“In some circumstances, kids had been taken moments after watching their mother and father being brutally murdered,” mentioned Dr. Zion Hagai, chairman of the Israel Medical Affiliation. “They don’t seem to be solely compelled to stay with this trauma however to expertise it in a wierd, darkish and scary place.”
Audio system highlighted the circumstances of a number of significantly weak hostages, amongst them Raz Ben Ami, 57, from the Be’eri kibbutz, who was being handled for neurosarcoidosis, a severe and uncommon illness that impacts the mind, spinal twine or peripheral nerves, inflicting listening to and imaginative and prescient loss, confusion, agitation and different results.
Dr. Arnon Elizur spoke of a younger affected person, Yagil Yaakov, who has a life-threatening peanut allergy and will die in minutes if he had been uncovered to even hint quantities of peanut powder. Islamic Jihad, one other militant group within the Gaza Strip, just lately revealed a video of the boy, trying pale and skinny, with darkish shadows underneath his eyes.
“I can’t think about what goes by means of his thoughts when he’s served meals,” Dr. Elizur mentioned. “Can he be sure it doesn’t comprise hint quantities of peanuts? Each meal for him is like enjoying Russian roulette.”
The son of one other hostage, Haim Peri, mentioned that his father had superior coronary heart illness.
“He’s an artist, a peace activist and a person who at all times fought for human rights,” mentioned the son, Noam Peri. “He’s a courageous man, however at age 80, he isn’t a wholesome man, and requires day by day medicines. He won’t survive captivity for lengthy.”