Israeli officials are preparing for the possibility that female Hamas hostages will emerge from captivity pregnant through rape. More than 130 Israelis still remain in the clutches of Hamas after nearly four months, including young women and teenage girls, with preliminary information suggesting that some have been subjected to sexual abuse, both during the initial onslaught and in captivity.
Civilian authorities, assisted by the Israel Defence Forces, are creating a programme that will coordinate all available resources for treating sexually abused hostages, including women at different stages of pregnancy, who will receive medical and psychological help.
According to a new report, officials with Israel’s Ministries of Welfare and Health are drawing up detailed plans to deal with the possibility of unwanted pregnancies in women who were kidnapped by terrorists after the deadly Oct. 7 attacks.
A pregnancy termination committee typically determines whether to grant an abortion request in Israel, but officials are considering bypassing that step to reduce the red tape in the cases of any pregnant former captives.
Pregnant captives will be able to decide whether to get an abortion or remain pregnant. Women who decide to keep their babies will receive financial, legal, and mental health support from the government.
The Wolfson hospital in the city of Holon has already prepared infrastructure and laid out protocols for receiving freed captives. As part of the first stage, medical staff will examine each patient for injuries and, if she is found to be pregnant, assess the development of the fetus. In the second stage, former Hamas hostages will be offered assistance with processing their trauma.
At that point, they will have to decide whether to terminate their pregnancy if it is still possible in a manner that is safe for the mother or bring it to term.
During a discussion in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Tuesday, Chen Almog-Goldstein, 49, who was released from captivity after more than 50 days in Gaza, revealed that some of the younger female hostages have stopped menstruating.
Ex-captive Aviva Siegel has recently told Israeli lawmakers that she witnessed members of the terror group bringing female captives “inappropriate clothing, doll clothes.
“The female hostages have been turned into “puppets with whom they could do what they wanted, when they wanted, and it’s beyond belief that they’re still there,” Siegel said.
Harrowing accounts shared by former hostages are fueling fears that sexual violence in the Gaza tunnels, where the Israelis are believed to be kept, is rampant.
Eli Albag, the father of 18-year-old Liri Albag, who was snatched from her bed by Hamas attackers on Oct. 7 and has not been seen or heard from in more than 50 days, told reporters in London this week that when he asked a released captive whether women were being raped, she averted her eyes. “She was silent, but she moved her face, so I understood that something happened there,” he recalled.
“The hostage saw something, but she didn’t want to tell us.” “We know that some of the girls—it’s very difficult to say this—[the terrorists] attacked them sexually, and we are worried,” the heartbroken dad added.
