Renee Ghert-Zand

Renee Ghert-Zand is a reporter and feature writer for The Times of Israel.

Israelis held hostage since October 7 are transferred by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists to the Red Cross in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 28, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

December 5, 2023, 6:00 pm

Health Ministry says Hamas drugged released hostages to make them appear happy

Knesset committee urges ministry to send international health organizations an official report with evidence of the drugging and other disturbing post-release medical findings

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Dr. Yael Mozer-Glassberg, Director of the Pediatric Liver Transplantation Service at Schneider Children's Medical Center. (Courtesy)

December 4, 2023, 4:51 pm

Pediatrician treating freed hostages: Reports of their good condition are misleading

Dr. Yael Mozer-Glassberg provides new details about physical and psychological states of 19 children and seven women brought to Schneider Children’s Medical Center

By Renee Ghert-Zand

The reunification of the Brodutch family, with father Avichai embracing his children who were held by terrorists in Gaza for 51 days, November 27, 2023. (Schneider Medical Center)

November 27, 2023, 9:04 pm

Photos, videos show emotional hostage reunions, as doctors say most in good health

Several freed hostages discharged from hospital Monday, including 9-year-old Emily Hand; medical center chief says released captives ‘have a long way to go’ to full mental recovery

By Renee Ghert-Zand and ToI Staff

Lt. Roi Nahari was killed in action against terrorists at Kfar Aza on October 9, 2023. His family donated his organs. (Courtesy)

November 25, 2023, 8:50 am

Grieving their fallen soldier sons, families donate their organs, spread life

These are the stories of 5 regular and reserve IDF soldiers whose hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys have given 25 people a new lease on life, during dark days of war

By Renee Ghert-Zand

The children and babies kidnapped on October 7 and held hostage by terrorists in the Gaza Strip. (Israel's official Twitter account)

November 23, 2023, 7:18 pm

Coming home: Health Ministry discloses strict protocols for treating freed hostages

After being handed to IDF by Red Cross, hostages will be sent to 6 Israeli hospitals, where staff will follow protocols on everything from avoiding overfeeding to documenting rape

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Anesthesiologist Prof. Suzanne Karan from the University of Rochester volunteers at Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, during the war with Hamas, November 2023. (Courtesy of Hadassah Medical Center)

November 23, 2023, 2:38 pm

Why doctors come volunteer in Israel at war: ‘I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t’

Filling in for Israeli doctors called to military duty or preoccupied with emergency preparedness, these 5 physicians are picking up the slack wherever and however they are needed

By Renee Ghert-Zand

These images released by the IDF on November 21, 2023, show the inside of a Hamas tunnel found under Gaza's Shifa Hospital. (Israel Defense Forces)

November 22, 2023, 2:20 am

IDF breaches blast door in Hamas tunnel under Gaza’s Shifa Hospital

Health Ministry accuses WHO of ignoring terror activities at medical centers in the Strip; military says hostage deal won’t impact mission of toppling Hamas

By Emanuel Fabian and Renee Ghert-Zand

Demonstrators calling upon the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take action for the release of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 and currently held in the Gaza Strip, outside the ICRC offices in Tel Aviv on November 9, 2023. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

November 20, 2023, 11:33 pm

Red Cross ‘cannot force its way in’ to see hostages, but critics say it could do more

ICRC says it can’t visit Gaza hostages unless Hamas allows it to do so, but government and families say it could exert more diplomatic pressure, including with Egypt and Qatar

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Volunteer pediatric surgeon Dr. Avi Schlager from Florida (right) with Schneider Children's Medical Center chief of surgery Dr. Dragan Kravarusic, November 2023. (Courtesy of Schneider Children's Medical Center)

November 17, 2023, 12:17 pm

First wave out of 7,000 foreign doctors wanting to help amid war have come to Israel

With many Israeli physicians called to military duty, organizations in Israel and abroad work with the government to identify the professionals needed most by hospitals and clinics

By Renee Ghert-Zand

November 13, 2023, 11:16 pm

Health workers join campaign to advocate for hostages, care for their families

Top health experts volunteer with #BringThemHomeNow to fight for information on the medical status of the hostages, lobbying Red Cross and WHO to do more

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon Dr. Teodoro Forcht Dagi at Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, October 2023. (Maayan Janus/Sheba Medical Center)

November 13, 2023, 4:15 pm

Top US neurosurgeon volunteers hard-won wartime expertise at Sheba Medical Center

Mayo Clinic head trauma specialist Dr. Teodoro Dagi brings knowledge gained from global conflict work – including in Kosovo and Northern Ireland – to treating Israel’s war-injured

By Renee Ghert-Zand

The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa was prepared for receiving patients following the outbreak of war, October 11, 2023. (Courtesy of Rambam)

November 13, 2023, 2:10 pm

Government agrees on immediate NIS 275 million to fortify hospitals

With only a third of hospital beds and fewer than half of operating rooms protected against missile attacks, officials begin to address dangers to patients, staff and visitors

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Illustrative: A newborn baby in an Israeli hospital. (Chen Leopold/Flash90)

November 12, 2023, 1:22 pm

Shepherding life into the world following catastrophe brings hope to Israeli midwives

Beersheba-based midwives and doctors talk of helping women give birth following Hamas’s murderous invasion on October 7 — regardless of race, nationality and religion

By Renee Ghert-Zand

A blood-soaked child's bed in Kibbutz Kfar Aza seen in a photo shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 11, 2023, in the aftermath of the Hamas assault on Israel on October 7. (X/Netanyahu)

November 7, 2023, 8:33 pm

Mental health professionals implore Netanyahu not to show atrocities film to public

Group focused on helping suffering Israelis warns against re-traumatizing a nation still in shock from October 7 and grappling with ongoing war against Hamas

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Family and friends attend the funeral of five members of the Kutz family, Livnat and Aviv and their three children Rotem, Yonatan and Yiftach, on October 17, 2023. The Kutz family was killed by Hamas terrorists, in their home in Kfar Aza, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. (Flash90)

November 5, 2023, 2:51 pm

Israel’s mental health professionals get special training to help heal the traumatized

With hundreds of thousands of Israelis in acute psychological distress since Oct. 7, PTSD specialists are teaching fellow psychologists who want to help but don’t know how

By Renee Ghert-Zand