Israeli report revealing torture and abuse of Gaza hostages not a surprise, relatives say

Record ID: 1893034

  • Title: Israeli report revealing torture and abuse of Gaza hostages not a surprise, relatives say
  • Date: 29th December 2024
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) FATHER OF HOSTAGES IARI AND EITAN HORN, ITZIK HORN, SAYING: "First of all it doesn’t surprise us. We all have been alert to this for some months now. There was also a report from the families. But of course, it worries all the families. And we hope that whoever has to take responsibility for the matter (ed’s note: referring to the U.N.) that it will in
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2025 18:25
  • Keywords: Gaza Hamas Israel hostage families report sexual assault torture
  • Location: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
  • City: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA004991129122024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Relatives of hostages interviewed by Reuters on Sunday (December 29) say they were not surprised to hear the gruesome conclusions included in a report released by the Israeli government, which stated that hostages held in Gaza were subjected to torture.
    The Hostages and Missing Families Forum organized a candle-lighting ceremony in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to observe the fifth night of Hanukkah, during which they reacted to the report.
    Hostages held in Gaza were subjected to torture, including sexual and psychological abuse, starvation, burns and medical neglect, according to the new report by the Ministry of Health to be submitted to the United Nations this week.
    The report is based on interviews with the medical and welfare teams which treated more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages, most of whom were released in late November 2023, in a brief truce between Israel and Hamas. Eight hostages were rescued by the Israeli military.
    The hostages include more than 30 children and teenagers, a few of whom were found to have been bound, beaten or branded with a heated object, according to the report addressed to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and published late on Saturday.
    Women reported sexual assault by the captors, including at gunpoint. Men were beaten, starved, branded, held bound in isolation and denied access to a bathroom, the report said. Some were denied treatment for injuries and medical conditions.
    Hamas has repeatedly denied abuse of the 251 hostages abducted from Israel during its Oct. 7, 2023 assault. About half of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed by Israeli authorities to still be alive.
    (Production: Janis Laizans, Anna Portella)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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