In the video: Yotam's mother Haim in a message to fighters who accidentally shot and killed him: "I am not angry"20.12.23/Walla!
Abductees who took on a role in captivity returned with greater resilience, and many abductees who were isolated from others testified to a more difficult experience, according to the first and unique study of its kind in the world by the Ministry of Social Affairs, in which abductees who returned from Hamas captivity are escorted.
As part of the study, interviews will be conducted with the abductees about the difficult days in captivity and will examine their acclimatization back in Israel, according to the pace and needs of each abductee who returned according to his age, marital status, gender and most importantly - the manner in which he is held captive. The ministry began collecting data from the social workers who work with the abductees who had already returned to Israel as part of the first abductee deal. The abductees who returned tell about what happened to them and how they coped in captivity, what encouraged them and what made them stronger under these conditions.
From the initial interviews, it was found that those who had a role in captivity or those who had meaning were found to have greater resilience to survive the horrors and inferno they endured and managed to endure the uncertainty and loneliness.
Rally for the release of the abductees and missing persons, December 2, 2023/Reuven Castro
The initial interviews also indicate that the older abductees felt the need to sponsor the other abductees and took upon themselves tasks, even if the simplest ones: distributing food, simple medical examinations, talking to those who were weakened, or providing protection from Hamas members who were with them. Preliminary material found that abductees isolated for a few days had a harder time and their resilience suffered. The interviews show that the abductees were self-absorbed during their captivity and not many conversations were created because of the fear and terror, but the conversations between them benefited them.
The next stage of the study will be interviews with the abductees themselves, in order to examine the extent of their integration back into Israel, according to the outline formulated by the Ministry of Social Affairs. An examination will be conducted as to which of them managed to return to a normative routine and what their needs were. The Ministry understands that most of the interviews will be conducted with the older age group and will focus on them.
This type of research is unique because there is no professional literature on abducting civilians from their homes, since soldiers or security officials are usually kidnapped in wars. In addition, the wide age range and the high number of people abducted enable extensive knowledge for research in order to understand the citizens' coping and acclimatization to their lives. The only study on the subject of captives was on the abduction of the women by ISIS, but these were very young women, and this study will focus on the elderly.
- More on the subject:
- Abductees
- Iron Sword War
- Gaza War