Guidelines for hospitals set to receive hostages include STD checks, pregnancy tests
Ministry official says new protocols differ ‘significantly’ from November 2023 hostage release, as captives to return from over 15 months in captivity
Reporter at The Times of Israel

The Health Ministry issued new guidelines Thursday for hospitals preparing to receive hostages released during the upcoming Gaza ceasefire agreement, including administering tests for sexually transmitted diseases as well as pregnancy tests for female hostages.
Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the Health Ministry’s General Medicine Division, said the updated protocols differs “significantly” from those implemented for hostages released during the temporary ceasefire deal of November 2023, when 105 hostages were released.
Returnees will be emerging from more than 15 months in captivity.
“There is a risk that returning hostages may develop Refeeding Syndrome,” Dr. Mizrahi explained. “This condition arises when individuals deprived of food during captivity attempt to compensate by consuming carbohydrates, potentially leading to serious harm.”
Mizrahi said there will be documentation and collection of forensic evidence from any cruelties hostages have suffered. Among other things, hostages will undergo tests for sexually transmitted diseases, with female abductees given pregnancy tests.
The protocol advises a minimum hospital stay of four days for returning hostages. Mizrahi noted that some of the previously released hostages eventually regretted leaving earlier than recommended, suggesting extended stays could better support their recovery.
The guidelines emphasize the need for heightened attention to hygiene, due to concerns of potential exposure to pathogens during captivity.
The ministry also urges families and visitors to avoid taking photos or posting updates on social media from hospital premises, warning such actions could inadvertently harm the recovery process of those freed from Hamas captivity.

Earlier in the week, before the agreement was signed, Dr. Noa Ziv of Schneider Children’s Medical Center said there was a major difference between the condition of the hostages returning now and the 105 civilians released during a week-long truce in late November 2023.
“We saw that the hostages then were in a difficult state, although they faced few medical issues,” Ziv told The Times of Israel this week. “That was after about 50 days of captivity. One can only speculate about the complex health and mental states the hostages will be in after 466 days in captivity.”
Ziv, who conducted a groundbreaking study about the 19 children and seven women who were released in November, said the hostages exhibited the effects of psychological terror due to warfare strategies that included isolation, intimidation, deprivation of food and water, and emotional abuse.
When Hamas released the 105 civilians, the hostages went to one of six Israeli hospitals: Soroka Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center, Wolfson Medical Center, Ichilov Medical Center, Shamir Medical Center, and Schneider Children’s Medical Center.

Israel says 98 hostages are currently held in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF.
The agreed-upon first phase of the deal will see Hamas release 33 “humanitarian” hostages over 42 days — children, women, female soldiers, the elderly and the sick. Israel believes most of the 33 are alive but that some are dead. Jerusalem has not yet received word on each hostage’s status.