Hostages hauled into Gaza throughout Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel had been drugged to maintain them docile in captivity and subjected to psychological and sexual abuse, a specialist mentioned Monday.
“I’ve by no means seen something like that” in 20 years of treating trauma victims, mentioned Renana Eitan, director of the psychiatric division of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre-Ichilov.
“The bodily, the sexual, the psychological, the psychological abuse of those hostages that got here again is simply horrible,” she added. “We have now to rewrite the textbook.”
The centre has obtained 14 ex-hostages launched by Hamas, a few of whom reported being drugged, together with with what medical doctors imagine had been benzodiazapines, a category of depressants with a sedative impact that features medicine like Valium.
“They needed to manage the youngsters, and generally it is troublesome to manage younger kids, adolescents. And so they know that in the event that they drug them they are going to be quiet,” she added.
“One of many ladies was given ketamine for a number of weeks,” she continued, referring to a robust dissociative anaesthetic identified for giving the recipient a way of detachment from their atmosphere.
“It is unbelievable to do that to a baby.”
Eitan mentioned some former hostages had additionally described psychological torment by the hands of their captors.
One was informed his spouse was lifeless when in truth she was nonetheless alive again in Israel, whereas kids had been separated from their households and proven “brutal movies”.
One affected person mentioned she and others had been held in whole darkness for greater than 4 days.
“They grew to become psychotic, that they had hallucinations,” Eitan mentioned.
There have been additionally reviews of self-harm amongst hostages in captivity, she famous, whereas some returnees had since professed to having suicidal ideas.
“However that is our mission, to ensure that such issues won’t occur,” she added.
Ichilov has additionally handled lots of of bodily wounded sufferers, each victims of October 7 and troopers injured within the ensuing struggle within the Gaza Strip.
Troopers may be airlifted to Ichilov from the battlefield in about quarter-hour, in accordance with vice chief of trauma surgical procedure Eyal Hashavia.
– Dissociative states –
Hamas’s October 7 assault killed 1,200 folks and noticed one other 240 taken hostage, Israeli officers say.
Below a one-week truce deal that ended on December 1, 105 hostages had been launched from Gaza, amongst them 80 Israelis — largely ladies and youngsters — freed in change for 240 Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Not less than 137 hostages are believed to nonetheless be in Hamas captivity.
Israel responded with a large floor and air marketing campaign to eradicate Hamas that has killed greater than 18,200 folks, in accordance with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
Some former hostages proceed to expertise dissociative states, Eitan mentioned: “One minute they know that they’re right here at Ichilov medical centre, and the following they suppose they’re again with Hamas.”
There are plans to create a centre to deal with post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD) after the nationwide shock of the October assault.
Eitan mentioned the psychological well being toll was staggering, with round 5 % of Israel’s inhabitants — some 400,000 folks — anticipated to undergo some signs of PTSD.
The acute state of affairs places medical doctors in a dilemma.
It’s thought of greatest apply to not debrief a survivor on their ordeal instantly, however Eitan mentioned there was additionally an pressing have to know in regards to the situation of different hostages.
“On one hand, we won’t do the debrief, however on the opposite, we’d like the knowledge,” she mentioned.
Tomer Zadik, 24, has been receiving remedy at Ichilov since being shot within the arm when Hamas fighters stormed the Supernova music competition on October 7.
He described hiding for hours as he listened to the voices of the attackers round him, earlier than managing to flee and reunite with a bunch of festival-goers and some troopers.
“The atrocities over there, phrases actually cannot describe,” he mentioned, including that he had nightmares in regards to the assault, although “much less and fewer with time”.
“They needed to interrupt us, not solely bodily. They needed to mentally break the entire nation of Israel,” he mentioned.
“However we cannot break.”
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