Former hostages and their families shared harrowing testimonies of Hamas captivity at a conference held at Shamir Medical Center on Sunday.
The conference, attended by Israel’s healthcare professionals from all medical and mental health fields, was held alongside the families of current and former hostages. The event served as part of an urgent plea from health system workers to secure the safe return of the hostages, whose lives hang in the balance.
Niva, the mother of Omer Wenkert, a hostage who was freed from Hamas captivity in January, recounted the traumatic experience her son endured. “They sprayed my son with insecticide because they thought he was Jewish, so he was considered a pest,” she said.
"Omer was left alone in a narrow tunnel, in unbearable conditions, with a cesspool beside him. He had only meager, stale food and no human contact except for a few minutes each day. He endured brutal abuse: beatings with an iron bar, endless humiliations. After prolonged isolation, he performed a farewell ceremony for himself, understanding he could never return to who he once was, and even distanced himself from his family. For us to heal, we need everyone back home. Despair is not the solution, hope is," said his mother.
Critical health crisis facing remaining hostages
Niva's testimony was further supported by Professor Hagai Levine, head of Israel’s health task force for the Hostage Families Forum.
He emphasized the critical health crisis facing the hostages still in Gaza, “The living hostages are in immediate danger of death due to injuries caused primarily by intentional starvation, resulting in the loss of up to half of their body weight. The loss of those who have died leaves a wound that can never heal, both for their families and for us as a nation. Their captivity affects not only the hostages but also the physical and mental health of their families and the entire public.”
Levine continued, “As healthcare professionals, it is our duty to lead the fight for their return, wherever and whenever needed, to support the hostages and their families, and to defend the sanctity of life. Today, we pause to remind you: The return of all the hostages, alive or deceased, is essential for rebuilding our society in Israel.”
Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach called on "international health organizations, the global medical community, and first and foremost the Red Cross...to act immediately, ensuring basic humanitarian conditions: water, food, medical care, and preservation of human dignity" to the hostages remaining in terror captivity in Gaza.
Levtzion-Korach is CEO of Shamir Medical Center and chair of the Governmental Hospital Directors Forum in Israel and spoke at a conference at the hospital on Sunday.
"We must all do everything - absolutely everything - to end this horror. The hostages must come home now. And only with the return of all of them will the healing process begin," she added.
Maariv contributed to this report.