Released female hostages were treated like maids, male captives still held being abused

Channel 12 publishes new testimony from the female hostages released last month, along with another testimony from released hostages about the conditions under which remaining male captives are being held.

One of the female hostages was held in the home of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative and was tasked with taking care of his children.

Another female hostage was held with a family. The father was married to several women and was very violent toward the hostage, treating her like a maid. One of the man’s wives grew close to the female hostage staying by them and would try to protect her, even offering to do chores in her place.

The female hostages said that their captors began feeding them in the lead-up to their release. For four days leading up to that day, the captors had the hostages practice the “speech” they’d give during their propaganda release ceremony.

As for the hostages still in captivity, testimony from those who have returned reveals that one of them heard about one of his relatives being killed over the radio.

Another hostage has been shackled by his legs since his abduction and has been subjected to terrible physical abuse.

Another hostage was beaten so badly at one point that he lost consciousness, and his fellow hostages thought he was dead.

Unlike some of the other hostages who have been released, many of those still being held have not been given access to a radio or TV or the outside world.

They are told by the captors that no one in Israel is fighting for their release. One of the hostages still being held was told that his wife had moved on and that he has no one to come back to.