The most prominent Israeli protocols for receiving and treating hostages

The health authorities in Israel have set guidelines for receiving hostages who will be released from Gaza in the coming days, including physical and mental health care, in addition to how Israeli soldiers deal with the hostages from the time they are released until they arrive at hospitals, according to what was reported by Israeli media.

The newspaper said,The Times of Israel“Early after the Hamas attack, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Welfare began preparing protocols for the treatment of the released hostages.

Doctors and mental health workers are preparing to receive the hostages and hope that they will finally be able to use the guidelines, according to the newspaper.

The Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, said in a press conference on Wednesday: “We are training and prepared for any scenario.”

The newspaper said that after Hamas hands over the Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, they will be transferred to representatives of the Israeli army at the Rafah border crossing.

After initial examinations, the hostages will be sent to one of six Israeli hospitals: Soroka Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center, Wolfson Medical Center, Ichilov Hospital, Shamir Medical Center or Schneider Children’s Medical Center.

Medical staff from the Ministry of Health will determine where each released hostage will go. Mothers and children will not be separated. Close family members of the hostages will also be notified of the location where their loved ones are being transferred and will be reunited with them there.

The hostages and their families will be received in separate hospital areas so they can enjoy privacy. All medical evaluations will be conducted in this area, away from other patients and staff.

The newspaper said that the media would not be allowed access to the hostages and their families at first.

Medical files for each of the hostages were compiled using information collected from Israeli health organizations.

Once the hostages’ delivery to Israel is confirmed, their confidential medical records will be released to the relevant hospital.

The Ministry of Welfare and Social Security provided instructions to the Israeli army to ensure the provision of the best possible care to the released hostages before they arrive at hospitals.

The army has been advised to appoint one soldier to accompany each child or family.

According to the newspaper, the instructions stipulate that soldiers must introduce themselves and speak reassuringly to children.

The newspaper reports that the instructions also state, “If children ask questions such as, ‘Where is my mother?’ or ‘Where is my father?’ Soldiers should not answer these questions, even if they know the answers,” according to Welfare Ministry guidelines.

The response should be something along the lines of, “I’m sorry babe, I don’t know. My job is to get you to Israel to a safe place where people you know can answer all your questions,” according to the newspaper report.

The Ministry of Health has instructed doctors to look for and document any signs of torture, rape, or other war crimes. If evidence of rape is uncovered or the hostage talks about it, appropriate professionals should be brought in to assess whether it is possible to interview the victim and collect evidence without repeating the trauma.

Among the protocols distributed by the Ministry of Health is a detailed document on proper nutrition for the released hostages, who are supposed to return to Israel suffering from malnutrition.

The instructions also include dealing with children, according to what the newspaper reported.HaaretzWhich indicates in its report that Israel has made recommendations to receive children who were hostages.

The document includes instructions for security personnel who make initial contact with children: they are asked to introduce themselves by name, and focus on questions related to their physical condition.

The Ministry of Health instructed the formation of dedicated teams, including pediatricians, gynecologists, and forensic specialists, to care for women and children returning to Israel.

The newspaper quoted an official in the Ministry of Health: “These are skilled teams that have undergone extensive training in forensic medicine and collecting legal evidence.”

Carefully selected teams, including mental health professionals, will be on hand to help those who need it. In some cases, it was decided that all or most of the employees would be women, and in some cases Arabic-speaking employees were not provided, according to Haaretz.

A humanitarian truce will begin in Gaza on Friday morning, followed by the release of a first batch of civilian hostages held by Hamas in the afternoon, as Qatar announced Thursday, while Hamas confirmed the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.