Following Hamas' terrorist attack on October 7th, 250 Israelis were taken captive, of whom 115 women, men, and children remain in captivity. During November-December 2023, as part of a ceasefire agreement and after approximately 50 days in Hamas captivity, about 80 Israelis and foreign citizens were released. Of these, a total of 26 returnees: 19 children aged two and a half to 18, six mothers, and one grandmother, were treated in the returnees' department of Schneider Children's Medical Center of the Clalit Group, immediately upon their return to Israel.
This department treated most of the children who returned to Israel from Hamas captivity. Some stayed in the department for a few days and others for several weeks, according to their wishes and requests. During their stay in the returnees' department at Schneider Children's, the returnees met with their family members, military personnel, and a multidisciplinary team that connected with them emotionally, provided medical, nursing, and psycho-social care, and gave them a sense of home, freedom, security, trust, and love in every possible way.
This study, now published in the international scientific journal "Acta Paediatrica," is the first to describe the physical and behavioral findings in children and their mothers in the immediate period following captivity. The study was conducted by a medical team from Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel who participated in the treatment of the returnees, including: Dr. Efrat Baron-Harlev, CEO of Schneider Children's Medical Center and her deputies, Dr. Shlomit Yaron and Dr. Omer Niv, Prof. Gilat Livni, who managed the returnees' department at Schneider Children's and senior department physicians: Dr. Yael Mozer-Glassberg, Dr. Havatzelet Yarden Bilavsky, Dr. Noa Ziv, Dr. Lotem Goldberg, Dr. Dana Zinger-Harel. Also participating in the study were: Prof. Silvana Fennig, Director of the Department of Psychological Medicine at Schneider Children's, Dr. Shirley Saar, Director of the Innovation Center at Schneider Children's, and Dr. Noa Elikim-Raz from Beilinson Hospital.
According to the researchers, significant findings observed upon the returnees' arrival at the hospital included: substantial weight loss, psychological trauma, and complications from poor hygiene and shrapnel injuries during the attack. Blood and stool laboratory tests were positive for various contaminants, but mostly without significant clinical manifestations.
According to researcher Dr. Noa Ziv, a senior physician in the returnees' department: "The findings described in the study are diverse and require the attention of a multidisciplinary team. It's important to remember that these findings relate to the immediate period after captivity and do not encompass the required follow-up and long-term implications. We can say that the most concerning aspects we experienced as a medical team among the returnees are psychological. We saw mainly great sadness and psychological trauma. Despite the great joy and immense relief of release, the returnees experienced significant difficulties during the attack and captivity, and many of them witnessed atrocities such as the murder and abduction of their loved ones. Long-term follow-up is necessary to understand the medical and psychological implications of captivity. We hope that no one will make use of the information collected in this article. Children should not have to deal with things of this nature, not even in their worst nightmares. We pray for the return of the remaining hostages and hope that we will have the opportunity to open our returnees' department once again."