Israeli captives released from Gaza were not exposed to torture, ill-treatment: Israeli media

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli captives released from Gaza were not exposed to torture or ill-treatment by the Palestinian groups, Israeli media reported on Monday.

The Israeli Channel 12 said it met with a number of relatives of the Israeli captives released by the Hamas group in Gaza who confirmed that they were not exposed to any form of torture or bad treatment.

The channel, however, said the captives received limited quantities of food.

“In the past two weeks, Gaza almost ran out of food items, so they had to settle with rice in small quantities, and they were very hungry," the channel reported.

Israel still doesn't allow the released captives to speak with the media. However, some of their relatives spoke with the media without mentioning their names.

The captives in Gaza were allowed to listen to Israeli radio channels.

An Israeli doctor who examined the released captives said they depended on rice, chickpeas, beans, and bread, adding that some of them lost weight.

“One of the captives lost 20 kilograms of weight, one lost 9 kilograms and another lost 12 kilograms,” the doctor said.

On Nov. 24, the humanitarian pause initially set for four days between Israel and the Palestinian factions entered into force at 7 a.m. local time (GMT0500).

The humanitarian pause agreement includes the release of 50 Israeli captives from Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinians, as well as the entry of hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian relief, and medical and fuel aid to all areas of the Gaza Strip.

Qatar on Monday announced the extension of the temporary humanitarian pause for two additional days.

Israel launched a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

It has since killed at least 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave. The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​