Around 100 Israeli hostages, who were abducted during the Hamas raid on Israel, have been released after spending over 50 days in captivity. Dr. Itai Pessach, the director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv, revealed in an interview with “CBS News Sunday Morning” that the freed hostages were brought to the medical center, whether they expressed the desire to come or not.
Dr. Pessach emphasized the need for a buffer for these individuals who had experienced captivity underground in the dark, with minimal food and significant psychological stress. The hostages had not been in contact with the outside world since October 7.
For some of the released hostages, returning home was not an option, and Dr. Pessach had the challenging task of delivering this news to them. He explained, “One of the largest challenges that we had is, how do we break the bad news? They look around the room, and they see that someone’s missing. That was something we had to prepare for.” the Hamas raid
With the exception of a brief cease-fire, Gaza has faced almost constant Israeli bombardment, resulting in widespread destruction and half of the population experiencing severe hunger.
Dr. Pessach believes that both Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the events they have undergone. He stated, “When they undergo events such as this, this will take its toll, and it doesn’t matter if they’re on this side or the other side.”
The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has persisted, with an ongoing Israeli bombardment and efforts to address the humanitarian crisis.