Freed hostages still receiving medical, psychiatric care

Two of the freed hostages remain in hospitals and the National Insurance Institute has provided 54 with caregivers.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Over a month since more than 100 hostages were released from Gaza, many are still receiving medical or psychiatric care according to a report from Israel’s Welfare Ministry released on Sunday.

Two of the freed hostages remain in hospitals and the National Insurance Institute has provided 54 with caregivers offering services such as art therapy and psychological treatment.

The released hostages are all receiving ongoing medical care and 85 are supervised by nurses.

Regarding the living arrangements of the released captives, 18 have returned to their regular homes, 27 are now staying in hotels after their communities were destroyed on October 7th and 26 are currently staying with other family members.

Nine of them have rented apartments and three elderly captives are now in assisted living facilities.

Of the children who were released, 21 are once again in an educational framework, some in their original schools and others in new schools in communities where they have been relocated.

Before they returned to Israel from Gaza, the Welfare office prepared professionals on ways to reintegrate the former hostages into their communities based on their age, socioeconomic status, and family dynamics.

The Ministry reported, “The preparation of these guidelines assisted social workers to learn about the condition of the hostage or the family they are treating.”

The report continued, “This was to approach them in the best and most professional manner and to help them adapt to a life routine as normal as possible.”

In cooperation with the Haruv Institute, the Welfare Ministry created a protocol on how to assist children freed from captivity.

Yaniv Aharoni, Director-General of the Welfare Ministry said, “The ministry’s social workers have formulated a specialized therapeutic service package for each individual to facilitate the reintegration of hostages as much as possible.”

He added, “We will continue to provide assistance to every citizen who has returned from captivity, regardless of their location. They are heroes, and we embrace them.”