Compiled from testimonies of rescued and released hostages, the report catalogs a horrifying campaign of systematic torture and humiliation.
The romantic notion of Hamas’ ‘resistance’ widely embraced by Western protesters and campus activists has met an inconvenient truth in hostage testimonies collected by Israeli health officials.
Compiled from testimonies of hostages both released during November’s prisoner exchange and those rescued by Israeli forces, the report catalogs a horrifying campaign of systematic torture and humiliation.
Hamas terrorists subjected their civilian captives to calculated physical and psychological torture. Hostages were kept bound hand and foot in total darkness for days, given minimal food and water while their captors inflicted brutal beatings across their bodies.
To protect survivors from further trauma, the report omits names, ages, and family details but doesn’t hide how Hamas heated metal over open flames to brand their victims, violently pulled out their hair, and forced them to endure surgeries without painkillers.
Children were forced to watch footage of Hamas’s October 7 massacre that killed 1,200 Israelis. Families were deliberately separated to maximize emotional trauma. Female hostages were degraded into serving as ‘maids’ for their captors. Horrifyingly, both women and children were subjected to rape and forced to wait hours or days to use toilets until they soiled themselves.
Starvation wasn’t just a byproduct of captivity; it was a calculated strategy that Hamas terrorists wielded with glee. Health officials found children’s bodies had wasted away by nearly one-fifth, while adult hostages lost as much as 33 pounds.
The psychological wounds run even deeper than the physical scars, as former hostages remain prisoners of their trauma. Children wracked by mysterious sharp pains that doctors can’t explain, survivors struggling with eating disorders, panic attacks, and the constant knowledge that others remain in Gaza make nighttime hours a living nightmare.
According to Channel 12, which received an advance copy of the Health Ministry’s report, Israel plans to submit its findings to the United Nations.