Politics Rubio in Israel - Reports of mistreatment of hostages
The three Israeli hostages recently released in the Gaza Strip have reported physical and mental abuse at the hands of their captors, according to media reports.
16.02.2025, 06:03
SDA
The more than 16 months in the hands of the Islamists were a "very harsh captivity, including physical abuse", wrote the newspaper "Times of Israel", citing reports from several Israeli TV stations. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel at the start of his visit to the Middle East. He will first speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.
This is likely to be about the continuation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. Hours before Rubio's arrival, three more Israeli hostages had been released. They are working in coordination with the USA to free the remaining abductees "as quickly as possible" "and are preparing with full intensity for what comes next, in every respect", Netanyahu said according to his office.
Protests in Israel
While Netanyahu was discussing the future of the agreement internally, around 1,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv in the evening for the full implementation of the agreement, according to the Times of Israel newspaper. They accused Netanyahu of trying to thwart a continuation of the ceasefire in order to hold on to power. They fear for the fate of the remaining hostages. 73 are still being held in Gaza, 36 of whom are dead.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported on the first accounts of the three Israelis released on Saturday in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners. The 36-year-old Sagui Dekel-Chen had been tortured during interrogations by Hamas. According to the television station Kanal 12, his body shows corresponding scars. The man had not known for months whether his family had survived the massacre by Hamas and other extremists from Gaza in Israel on October 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were abducted.
Reports of mistreatment of the hostages
Shortly before his release, his captors told him that his wife had given birth to a daughter during his captivity, the Kan broadcaster reported. They had also given him earrings for his wife, but he had not believed them. A video distributed by Israel's army after his release showed Dekel-Chen in the arms of his weeping wife, who also told him the name of their daughter: Shakhar Mazal.
The 29-year-old Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov, on the other hand, did not know until his release that his father had been killed in the massacre on October 7, it was further reported. He burst into tears when he was told by representatives of the Israeli army after his release on Saturday, it was said.
As the "Times of Israel" further reported, Iair Horn (46), who was also released, lost dozens of kilograms in weight during his captivity and had hardly received any medical care. All three hostages were held most of the time in tunnels in Chan Junis in the south of the Gaza Strip, just a few hundred meters from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz. They had often suffered from hunger, but had also learned Arabic during their captivity.
14 other abductees, including eight who died, are to be released in the next two weeks as part of the first phase of the deal. Further living abductees are then to be released in a second phase. However, it is still completely uncertain whether this second phase will actually be implemented.
Rubio begins Middle East talks
Meanwhile, following his meeting with Netanyahu this morning, US Secretary of State Rubio will also meet with his colleague Gideon Saar and President Izchak Herzog later in the day, according to the visit program. Before embarking on his trip, he had called on the Arab states to make their own proposals regarding the future of the Gaza Strip after US President Donald Trump caused unrest with his plan to permanently relocate the approximately two million inhabitants to Arab states.
According to Trump's vision, the devastated Gaza Strip is to be transformed into a "Riviera of the Middle East" under US control. After Israel, Rubio wanted to travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
