Hamas had reportedly administered tranquilizers to the Israeli hostages to deceive the cameras into thinking they were in good condition during their release, an official from Israel's Health Ministry acknowledged on Tuesday, December 5.
The information was shared at a meeting of the Knesset Health Committee, which was focused on the well-being of the 110 civilian hostages who were brought back to Israel from Gaza last week as part of a deal to exchange Palestinians who were detained on charges of terrorism.
Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli woman, is reunited with her family following 55 days in Hamas captivity on November 30, 2023 in Be'er Sheva, Israel.
Captives Were Drugged Before Release
According to many viral accounts on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and other platforms, the captives were reportedly given affectionate glances by the Hamas militants as they were being handed over to the International Red Cross.
Moshe Saada, a politician from the Likud party, claimed to have learned from the relatives of the hostages that "they were given all kinds of pills so that they feel high," as reported by Jewish Insider.
Ronit Endevelt of Israel's Health Ministry's Nutrition Department confirmed that this is true.
When Saada asked what kind of pills, Hagar Mizrahi, head of general medicine at the health ministry, said: "Clonex, to improve their mood."
American consumers may recognize the benzodiazepine tranquilizer Klonopin by its Israeli brand name, Clonex. Within an hour, you will feel the hypnotic effects of this sedative-muscle relaxant. As a recreational drug, it has the potential to make users feel ecstatic.
"This is part of the psychological terror Hamas put [the hostages] through," Saada remarked. "A pill like this, for someone who is not used to its influence, works quickly to give you a feeling that you're high when their mental state was actually very low."
The drugging was one kind of abuse the captives endured, which also included psychological and physical abuse, as well as neglect.
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Alleged Abuses Suffered by Hostages
Regarding the subject of nutrition, the committee was informed via a presentation given by the Health Ministry that the majority of the hostages had a considerable loss of weight. The wounded were in poorer nutritional condition, but children kept alongside adults recovered better. A number of the medics who treated the captives said last week that some of them had suffered from malnutrition and had lost 10-20% of their total weight.
Endevelt added that the captives were fed just before their release in an effort to make them seem better.
The Health Ministry reported that several hostages were significantly deficient in vitamin D due to their lack of exposure to sunlight and that some of them had gastrointestinal difficulties. They also predicted the emergence of future nutritional problems, including digestive issues and eating disorders.
According to Shir Siegal, the daughter of American citizens Aviva and Keith Siegal (the former of whom was released while the latter is still a prisoner in Gaza), their kidnappers handcuffed and tortured them, and people were not given medicine.
"There are stories that they were treated them OK, they were given food ... They didn't give them food, they didn't give them water," Siegal pointed out.
See Also: Israel Claims Hamas Spies Work for Years to Plan Oct. 7 Terrorist Attack
