Tel Aviv area hospitals prepare to treat malnourished hostages

The Health Ministry says the health system is ready to receive the approximately 20 hostages returning from Hamas captivity.

The preparations, led by Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, Head of the Medical Division, are based on “lessons learned from previous releases and rescue operations,” the Ministry says.

Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center in Tel Aviv, and Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva have been designated to receive the returnees. If urgent medical care is required, freed hostages may be taken to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba or Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, which are closer to Gaza.

The National Center of Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir) is completing preparations to receive the bodies of those who are dead, as done in previous cases, where they will confirm their identities.

Hospitals have received detailed guidelines adapted to the hostages’ expected medical condition. Each returnee will be treated in a private room within a separate, secure area of the hospital, accompanied by family members. The ministry emphasizes that the long period of captivity heightens the risk of severe malnutrition, requiring precise medical and nutritional supervision.

The ministry says that it contacted the Red Cross several weeks ago, requesting that hostages, who are thought to have been starved during their captivity, not be overfed before their return, as Hamas may do to try and hide their previously emaciated state.

According to the ministry, after prolonged starvation, a sudden increase in food intake can lead to what is known as refeeding syndrome, which may cause neurological, respiratory, and cardiac complications.

“These are deeply sensitive moments for the returnees and their families,” the ministry says. “Respecting their privacy is essential to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration into life after captivity.”

A Sheba Medical Center spokesperson says the hospital “is in the midst of final preparations to receive the hostages.”

“Ichilov Medical Center is ready at any given moment to receive the returnees and provide them with medical care and a human environment at the best level,” a hospital spokesperson says.