Any Israeli hostage who became pregnant after being raped by her Hamas captors in Gaza will have to decide whether to keep her baby or terminate the pregnancy after her release, according to a new report.
Officials at Israel’s Welfare and Health Ministries are drawing up detailed plans to address the possibility of unwanted pregnancies in women who were kidnapped by terrorists after the deadly October 7 attacks, local media outlet Walla! reported.
In Israel, a pregnancy termination committee normally determines whether an abortion request is granted, but officials are considering skipping that step to reduce bureaucracy in the cases of any pregnant former captives.
More than 130 Israelis remain in the clutches of Hamas after nearly four months, including young women and teenagers, and preliminary information suggests that some have been subjected to sexual abuse, both during the initial attack (as seen in gruesome videos circulating online) as during the attack. and in captivity.
Civil authorities, with the assistance of the Israel Defense Forces, are creating a program that will coordinate all available resources to treat sexually abused hostages (including women in different stages of pregnancy) who will receive medical and psychological help.
Israeli officials are preparing for the possibility of Hamas hostages being pregnant from captivity through rape. X/Daniel Brenner Pregnant captives will be able to decide whether to abort or remain pregnant. AFP via Getty Images
The Wolfson Hospital in the city of Holon has already prepared the infrastructure and established protocols to receive the freed captives.
As part of the first stage, medical staff will examine each patient for injuries and, if found to be pregnant, evaluate the development of the fetus.
In the second stage, former Hamas hostages will be offered assistance to process their trauma.
Stay on top of news on the war between Israel and Hamas and the global rise in anti-Semitism with The Post’s Israel War Update, delivered directly to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
At that point, they will have to decide whether to terminate their pregnancy, if it is still safely possible for the mother, or to carry it to term.
Women who decide to keep their babies will receive financial, legal and mental health support from the government, the outlet reported.
French Jewish women stage a protest at a feminist march in Paris to denounce French women’s groups for remaining silent about the female victims of Hamas in the October 7 terrorist attack. Maya Vidon-White/UPI/Shutterstock
During a debate in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Tuesday, Chen Almog-Goldstein, 49, who was released from captivity after more than 50 days in Gaza, revealed that some of the youngest hostages have stopped menstruating .
“There are girls who haven’t gotten their period in a long time. Maybe we all have to pray that their bodies protect them and they don’t get pregnant from rape,” she said.
Pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and foreign leaders to act quickly to free the remaining hostages, family members of the captive women emphasized that the longer their loved ones remained in captivity, the greater the risk that they would end up pregnant.
The father of hostage Liri Albag, 18, is concerned for her safety. He has not been seen or heard from in over 50 days. Distribute
The main concern is that if the women are not released for a few months, it will be too late to terminate their pregnancies.
“I’m not sure how they will manage, but we must prepare now for this terrible theoretical possibility of a woman conceiving or raising such a child. Therefore, we must stop this atrocity, not allow the captives to die there, bring them back and provide them with care,” Professor Tal Biron-Shental, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, recently told Israel newspaper. . Maariv publication.
The harrowing accounts shared by former hostages are fueling fears that sexual violence in the Gaza tunnels, where Israelis are believed to be held, is rampant.
Former captive Aviva Siegel recently told Israeli lawmakers that she witnessed members of the terrorist group wearing “inappropriate clothing, doll clothes” to female captives.
Former hostages shared that women held by Hamas are given “doll clothes” and treated like “puppets.” AP
The hostages had become “puppets that they could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and it’s amazing that they’re still there,” Siegel said.
Eli Albag, the father of Liri Albag, 18, who was torn from her bed by Hamas attackers on October 7 and has not been seen or heard from in more than 50 days, told reporters in London this week that when he asked the freed captive if the women were being raped, he looked away.
“She stayed silent but moved her face so I understood that something happened there,” he recalled. “The hostage saw something, but she didn’t want to tell us.”
“We know that some of the girls (it’s very difficult to say) [the terrorists] “I attacked them sexually and we are worried,” added the heartbroken father.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn