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Hostages tell of psychological and physical abuse in Hamas captivity

Those freed said they were starved and then force-fed, treated without anesthetic and chained for months in Hamas tunnels.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Some of the hostages freed Monday have begun telling their families about the torture they underwent at the hands of their Hamas captors over the past two years.

Matan Angrest was badly burned on his right hand as he fought off Hamas fighters in his tank on Oct. 7, 2023, before being captured.

When caught, he was beaten until he lost consciousness, his mother, Anat, told Channel 12 in an interview.

The Gazans who treated his burns did so without giving him any anesthetic.

“He has several other injuries, including to his vision,” Anat said.

Her son underwent “very severe torture” in the first months of captivity because he was a soldier, she added, and “suffered severe psychological warfare – that we gave up on them, that [Hamas] was going to conquer the country, that they are planning the next Oct. 7.”

For the last four months of his captivity, Angrest was held in small, dark tunnels in areas where the IDF was active, and several times the walls collapsed on him due to bombing.

Alon Ohel is in danger of losing his sight completely in his left eye due to shrapnel penetrating it on the day of the invasion, and there is a risk to his right eye as well.

He also has shrapnel all over his hands, head and chest, which was never removed during the two years of his captivity.

Prof. Hagai Levine, head of the health team of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, told Fox News Digital that “beyond those who were physically injured, almost all endured prolonged deprivation of medical care…resulting in infections, chronic discomfort and overall physical decline” that will have “deep and lasting effects on their health.”

Many hostages said they were starved by their captors. Channel 11 reported some saying their guards made a point of eating in front of them to make them suffer more.

This kind of torment in the face of their prisoners’ deprivation was commonly reported by previously released hostages as well.

Evyatar David was recently shown in a Hamas propaganda film in a dark tunnel, emaciated to the point of looking like a Holocaust survivor.

In an act of psychological torture, his captors gave him a shovel to dig what they said would be his own grave.

Elkana Bohbot’s wife, Rivka, told a press conference at Sheba Hospital that while her husband was starved throughout his captivity, in recent days he was tortured in the opposite way – being forced to eat large amounts of food “so that he would look a little better to the world.”

“Because of this, Elkana is suffering from stomach pains and is swollen,” she said, besides having pain in his lower back and legs.

He was not the only hostage to report being force-fed recently, which medical authorities consider extremely dangerous to victims’ health and potentially fatal.

Several hostages said they were kept in Hamas tunnels throughout their captivity, with some, such as Bohbot, also chained for months at a time.

When imminent cease-fire deals collapsed, some hostages were treated more roughly than usual.

Rom Broslavsky’s uncle told Walla that the change was “extreme.”

“You’re dealing with psychopaths,” he said.

While some hostages were alone for part of their time in captivity, others – including Avinatan Or, Ariel Cunio and brothers Gali and Ziv Berman – were kept isolated throughout their two years under Hamas captivity and were not told what was happening in the outside world during that time.