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Published January 24, 2024, 3:54 pm ET
All Israeli hostages who became pregnant as a result of being raped by their Hamas captors in Gaza will have to decide after their release whether to keep their baby or terminate the pregnancy, according to a new report.
Israeli Welfare and Health Ministry officials are drawing up detailed plans to address the possibility of unwanted pregnancies among women abducted by terrorists following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks, local news agency Walla! reported.
In Israel, an abortion committee typically decides whether to grant an abortion request – but authorities are considering bypassing this step to reduce red tape for pregnant former prisoners.
More than 130 Israelis remain in Hamas's clutches after nearly four months, including young women and teenage girls. Preliminary information suggests that some of them were sexually abused during the initial attack – as seen in gruesome videos online. and in captivity.
Civilian authorities, with the support of the Israel Defense Forces, are creating a program that coordinates all available resources for the treatment of sexually abused hostages – including women in various stages of pregnancy – who receive medical and psychological assistance.
Israeli officials are preparing for the possibility that female Hamas hostages will emerge from captivity pregnant as a result of rape. X/Daniel Brenner Pregnant prisoners can decide whether to have an abortion or stay pregnant. AFP via Getty Images
Wolfson Hospital in the city of Holon has already prepared infrastructure and established protocols for receiving released prisoners.
In the first step, medical staff examine each patient for injuries and, if pregnancy is detected, assess the development of the fetus.
In the second step, the former Hamas hostages are offered help in processing their trauma.
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At this point they must decide whether they want to terminate the pregnancy, if this is still possible in a way that is safe for the mother, or whether they want to carry the pregnancy to term.
Women who choose to keep their babies will receive financial, legal and psychological support from the government, the outlet reported.
French Jewish women protest at a feminist march in Paris to denounce French women's groups for their silence on Hamas's female victims in the October 7 terror attack. Maya Vidon-White/UPI/Shutterstock
During a discussion in Israel's 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 younger female hostages had stopped menstruating.
“There are girls who haven’t had their period for a long time. Maybe we all need to pray that their bodies protect them and they don't get pregnant through rape,” she said.
Relatives of female prisoners urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and foreign leaders to act quickly to free the remaining hostages, stressing that the longer their relatives remained in captivity, the higher the risk of becoming pregnant.
The father of 18-year-old hostage Liri Albag is worried about her safety. She has not been seen or heard from for more than 50 days. handout
The biggest concern is that if women are not discharged for several months, it will be too late to terminate the pregnancy.
“I'm not sure how they'll cope, but we must now prepare for the terrible theoretical possibility that a woman could conceive or raise such a child. That is why we must stop this atrocity, not allow the prisoners to perish there, bring them back and provide them with care,” Professor Tal Biron-Shental, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, recently told Israel publication Maariv.
Harrowing accounts from former hostages are fueling fears that sexual violence is widespread in the Gaza tunnels where Israelis are believed to be held.
Former prisoner Aviva Siegel recently told Israeli lawmakers that she saw members of the terror group bringing female prisoners “inappropriate clothing, doll clothes.”
Former hostages said women held by Hamas were given “doll clothes” and treated like “puppets.” AP
The female hostages had become “puppets with whom they could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and it's unimaginable that they are still there,” Siegel said.
Eli Albag, the father of 18-year-old Liri Albag, who was snatched from her bed by Hamas attackers on October 7 and has not been seen or heard from for more than 50 days, told reporters in London this week when asked Als When a released prisoner noticed that women were being raped, she looked away.
“She was silent, but she moved her face so I understood that something had happened,” he recalled. “The hostage saw something, but she didn’t want to tell us.”
“We know that some of the girls – it's very hard to say – [the terrorists] “I sexually assaulted her and we are worried,” the heartbroken father added.
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