Hamas gunmen surround(L-R) Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on a stage before handing them over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
The United Nations Human Rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan says in a statement that “images of emaciated Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees released as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement have been deeply distressing.”
The statement urges Israel and Hamas to ensure humane treatment for all people they hold.
Under the first stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal that came into effect in January, the terror group is slated to release 33 Israelis held hostage since its brutal October 7, 2023, onslaught, in exchange for the release of around 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The three hostages freed by Hamas on Saturday, Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami, all returned to Israel severely malnourished and frail.
Health officials said yesterday that the three freed hostages are suffering from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass, heart disorders, and prolonged infection.
Released hostage Eli Sharabi reunites with his mother Chana and sister Osnat at an army facility near the Gaza border after 491 days in Hamas captivity, February 8, 2025. His wife and two daughters were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (IDF).
Some Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of the deal have also appeared to be frail, with the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club saying Saturday that seven of the prisoners released this past weekend were admitted to the hospital after need “of medical care, treatment, and examinations, as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months.”
Israel has said that all the detainees are “treated in accordance with international law.”
A former Palestinian prisoner released by Israel is cheered upon his arrival in Ramallah on buses of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on February 1, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
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