\n<\/p>\n
Bound. Starved. Wounded. Tortured. These are the conditions that some hostages being held in Gaza still face, according to information their families said they had received from Israeli military and security officials after Hamas released three captives on Saturday as part of a cease-fire agreement.<\/p>\n
The emaciated appearance of three hostages released in a ceremony in Gaza<\/a> staged by Hamas last weekend \u2014 Eli Sharabi, 52; Or Levy, 34; and Ohad Ben-Ami, 56 \u2014 and the details of their captivity have relatives of the remaining captives sounding the alarm about the urgent need for the continuation of the phased cease-fire deal. The urgency comes as the militant group said on Monday it would indefinitely postpone<\/a> the next hostage releases, set for Saturday, citing Israeli cease-fire violations.<\/p>\n Before they were handed over to Red Cross officials in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, the frail, painfully thin hostages were paraded onstage before a crowd in the city of Deir al-Balah, Gaza, each holding a Hamas-issued \u201crelease certificate,\u201d and made to recite words written for them \u2014 including thanks to the militants who had held them for 16 months.<\/p>\n A doctor in charge of overseeing the treatment of two of the freed Israeli hostages later said they were in poor condition<\/a>. The third was in a \u201csevere nutritional state,\u201d according to an official<\/a> at the hospital where he was being treated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Hamas has said it treats its captives benevolently.<\/p>\n Under the first phases of the cease-fire deal, the armed Palestinian group agreed to free 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight who were killed, in exchange for about 1,500 Palestinian prisoners. So far, about half of those exchanges have been carried out.<\/p>\n Hamas on Saturday denounced \u201cthe brutal treatment of our prisoners\u201d by Israeli officials. \u201cThis includes ongoing assaults, torture, and disregard for age or the severe health conditions suffered by many prisoners,\u201d it said in a statement, highlighting what it said was the difference in treatment between the hostages and the prisoners.<\/p>\n Idit Ohel, whose son Alon Ohel turned 24 on Monday and was spending his second birthday in captivity in Gaza, told reporters at a news briefing that she had learned from military sources who had spoken with the most recently released hostages that her son was receiving very little food and no medical care for multiple injuries, including an eye injury that has left him partially blinded.<\/p>\n Mr. Ohel, who was captured at the Nova Music Festival during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has been held bound for much of the time and was tortured, she said she had learned from Israeli military officials. \u201cIt was not easy to hear,\u201d Ms. Ohel said. \u201cI must say that I even fainted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a mother in this world that would even be able to sleep,\u201d knowing their child was enduring such suffering, she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Similarly, Sigi Cohen, the mother of another hostage, Eliya Cohen, who was 26 when captured, said by phone on Monday that she had learned from Israeli security forces that her son \u2014 who was shot in the leg during the 2023 attack on Israel \u2014 has also not received treatment for his injuries.<\/p>\n Her son reportedly sees almost no sunshine and has been bound throughout most of his nearly 500 days in captivity, she added.<\/p>\n The New York Times could not independently confirm the information. A spokesman for the Israeli military, reached by phone, declined to comment on Monday, citing the sensitivity of the topic.<\/p>\n The recently freed hostages\u2019 reports about what they and others have endured align with the accounts of some of other captives freed since the first phase of the cease-fire agreement went into effect last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And Dr. Hagai Levine, who leads the medical team for the Hostage Family Forum, an umbrella group, told reporters on Monday that the hostages had been \u201cstarved\u201d and endured \u201cintentional torture,\u201d and that many had returned home with infections that could become a threat, as well as emotional damage.<\/p>\n \u201cThe findings are clear and deeply alarming,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are subject to deliberate starvation and severe water deprivation\u201d and \u201care undergoing extreme physical and emotional abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a clear and present danger to all of the hostages\u2019 lives,\u201d Dr. Levine added. He said that any delay in the release of hostages would \u201cprobably cost lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The relatives of some of those recently released have also described details of the hostages\u2019 experiences \u2014 and the dire state they are in now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYesterday, my brother Or returned to us after 491 days of hell,\u201d Michael Levy said in a statement on Sunday. His bother had been held in Hamas tunnels and returned to Israel a shadow of the man he once was, his brother said.<\/p>\n \u201cI hugged him, but he wasn\u2019t the same Or who left home on October 7th,\u201d Mr. Levy said, noting that his brother had returned \u201cin poor physical condition and spent 16 months \u201chungry, barefoot and in constant fear\u201d that every day could be his last.<\/p>\n But the \u201chardest blow\u201d came on Saturday, he said, when his brother learned that his wife, Einav Levy, had not survived the attack at the Nova music festival.<\/p>\n The latest details about the conditions under which some of the hostages were held came as the fragile truce appeared to be fraying.<\/p>\n Ofer Calderon, who was released earlier this month, said in a statement on Monday, \u201cI was held in tunnels without seeing daylight, had no access to media, experienced severe hunger conditions, went entire months without showering or receiving proper care.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He called for a continuation of the cease-fire and noted that after the first temporary deal of the war was struck between Israel and Hamas, in November 2023, the conditions during his and other hostages\u2019 captivity had \u201cseverely deteriorated and became brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must not stop the current deal and must continue working to free all the hostages.\u201d Mr. Calderon said. \u201cHamas is a cruel enemy who will not hesitate to harm the hostages left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n