Hospitals prepare for ‘complex mission’ to treat freed hostages

Each captivity survivor will receive multidisciplinary medical and psychological care.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli hospitals are preparing to receive 20 hostages returning from Gaza, all of whom endured starvation, medical neglect, and physical and psychological torture during more than two years of captivity.

“This is a complex logistical mission, possibly the most challenging we’ve ever faced,” Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov told Hebrew-language media.

“We’re bringing home 20 living hostages and 28 deceased. Alongside the joy, we must handle the consequences of long and extremely harsh captivity.”

The returning hostages will be distributed among five major hospitals across Israel, depending on the urgency and type of medical care required.

According to Hebrew-language reports, wards have been adapted to meet the hostages’ specialized needs, including private areas where family members can remain with them throughout their recovery.

Each hostage will be treated by a multidisciplinary team composed of doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and religious support staff.

Concerned that Hamas may attempt to conceal prolonged starvation by overfeeding captives before their release, Israel’s Health Ministry has asked the Red Cross to warn Hamas against doing so. Rapid refeeding after starvation can cause serious, even fatal, complications.

“This is one of our greatest fears — that harm may occur in the final moments,” said Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, a senior Health Ministry official. “We are preparing for the worst and hoping for good.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine, commonly known as Abu Kabir, is preparing to receive and identify the bodies of 28 slain hostages.

Since October 7 and during previous hostage body returns, the center has confirmed the identities of hundreds of terror victims via familial DNA testing.

In February 2025, the institute discovered that remains Hamas claimed belonged to kidnapped mother Shiri Bibas were, in fact, those of an unknown Gazan woman. Hours later, another set of remains was returned and later confirmed to be Bibas’.