The three Israeli hostages released by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Saturday arrived at two hospitals with symptoms of “severe malnutrition” and having lost a lot of weight, the Health Ministry said based on initial medical checks.
“These are difficult scenes,” said Health Ministry representative Dr. Hagar Mizrahi at a press conference reported by media at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, where two of the freed hostages are beginning their recovery.
Or Levy, 34, was the first to arrive at the hospital, while Eli Sharabi, 52, was flown by helicopter to Sheba Hospital near Tel Aviv, according to images broadcast by television networks, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, landed at Ichilov.
In addition to their physical deterioration, the three also face family losses: Levy's wife was killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7, leaving behind a son who is now three years old. Eli Sharabi's wife and daughters, aged 13 and 16, were killed that same day by the Islamic terrorist organisation's henchmen, while his brother, also kidnapped, died in Gaza, according to a first military investigation, most likely due to an Israeli bombing.
Israel's most-watched Channel 12 news channel said Sharabi had been informed earlier of his brother's death, but not of the murders of his wife and daughters. That was the first thing he asked when he arrived in Israel.
Throughout the morning, the Office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is still on a trip to the United States, shared images of the reunion of the freed prisoners with their families.
The three hostages appear malnourished and aged after 16 months in captivity. The Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons, which represents most of the relatives of those abducted on October 7, said their condition was reminiscent of images of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945.
“We must get ALL THE HOSTAGES out of hell,” the group warned in a statement, reiterating its demand that the Jerusalem government comply with the ceasefire agreement until the end, in order to free the Israeli men, those over 19 and under 50 years old, and the thirty dead.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article