Maya Lubell
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hostages held in Gaza have been subjected to torture, including sexual and psychological abuse, starvation, burns and medical neglect, according to a new Israeli Health Ministry report to be submitted to the United Nations this week.
The report is based on interviews with medical and welfare teams treating more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages, most of whom were released in late November 2023 during a brief truce between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military rescued eight hostages.
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The hostages included more than 30 children and teenagers, some of whom were found bound, beaten or branded with heated objects, according to a report issued late Saturday to the U.N. special rapporteur on torture.
Women reported being sexually assaulted, including at gunpoint, by their captors. Reports said the men were beaten, starved, branded, tied up alone and not allowed to use the toilet. Some people are denied treatment because of their injuries and medical conditions.
The report did not reveal the names or ages of any of the hostages to protect their privacy, but some of the descriptions matched those given by hostages and the staff who treated them in interviews with Reuters and other media and in U.N. reports.
Hamas has repeatedly denied torturing the 251 hostages kidnapped from Israel in the October 7, 2023 attack. Israeli authorities believe that about half of the 100 hostages still being held in Gaza are still alive.
New efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, including a hostage trade, have gained momentum in recent weeks, but no breakthroughs have been reported.
According to Israeli authorities, the war began with Hamas attacks in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Subsequent Israeli operations against Hamas have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza and reduced much of the territory to rubble, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israeli authorities are investigating allegations of abuse of Palestinian detainees captured during the war.
(Editing by James MacKenzie and William McLean)
