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Israel Charts Unmapped Ways to Treat Trauma of Freed Child Hostages

Mia Leimberg, a hostage who was abducted by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, holds her dog Bella while she and others are handed over by Hamas terrorists to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as part of a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel amid a temporary truce, in an unknown location in Gaza, in this screengrab taken from video released Nov. 28, 2023. Photo: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via REUTERS

Just days after Hamas kidnapped more than 35 young children and teenagers during its Oct. 7 rampage, youth psychologists and welfare experts in Israel began worriedly preparing for their return.

The war in Gaza was in its early stages and the fate of the hostages was not clear, but Israel wanted to be sure that treatment protocols were in place when they came home.

It was, however, uncharted territory. Few times in recent history had so many children either directly witnessed such violence or been taken captive. Similar cases, such as the mass kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants in 2014, had led to no written research on courses of treatment.

“We had some newspapers, items and clips and so on, but we couldn’t find any real materials about them,” said Asher Ben-Arieh, a specialist in child trauma at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and Haruv Institute.

Ben-Arieh was tapped by Israel‘s Welfare Ministry to help identify the possible emotional traumas endured and come up with written protocols to cope with them.

“It basically introduced new forms of trauma for children and their families that we never witnessed before,” he said. “How do you explain to a child that he is safe now, when he has seen his safest place, his bedroom, burned and his parents murdered in his house?”

Seven weeks passed before the first Israeli hostages were freed during a truce in late November. By then, Ben-Arieh and teams comprising a few dozen experts had drafted nine protocols for previously undreamed-of scenarios.

One was for kidnapped children. A second for children whose parents were killed. Another focuses on community-wide trauma. They include “practical recommendations, what to do, in what stage,” Ben-Arieh said.

“We went and trained the Shin Bet [intelligence agency] and the army soldiers who were the first ones to meet the kidnapped children in Egypt even before they came to Israel.”

Their recommendations are still being fine-tuned as more is learned. They may be simple, like asking the child first before giving a hug, or — more surprisingly — like letting children use social media as a way to regain control over their lives.

So far 33 hostages aged two to 17 have returned to Israel.

Details have slowly emerged about their time in captivity and the emotional scars. Relatives have shared how some children upon returning woke up crying overnight or clung to them throughout the day. Some spoke only in whispers.

Ben-Arieh said one child who had been held in darkness wanted to keep sunglasses on for a few days. And when a girl preferred sleeping under her bed instead of on it, her social worker was instructed not to interfere to avoid intensifying the trauma.

Schneider Children’s Medical Center in central Israel received 26 freed hostages — 19 children, six mothers, and a grandmother.

“We do have, unfortunately, in Israel knowledge about treating trauma, about helping kids overcoming symptoms of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder],” said clinical psychologist Avigal Snir, who heads the hospital’s PTSD unit.

“When treating kids coming back from captivity from Gaza we found ourselves dealing with a new situation. There is no documented research or clinical writing.”

The principles developed in Israel were helpful.

“We spent a lot of time reading, thinking about different aspects and also tailoring a specific protocol for our center to be available for us in this specific initial stage of welcoming the kids,” Snir said.

“The next stage, when kids are leaving the hospital and starting their journey in the community, seeing therapists, will be different. They will need different things and I think those protocols will be very helpful.”

The preparatory work has already helped the families.

“This was one of the therapeutic factors. Kids and families realized that we were waiting for them, and they were able to maybe start and rebuild trust and feel safe again, after what they’ve been through,” she said.

The post Israel Charts Unmapped Ways to Treat Trauma of Freed Child Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians

US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.

While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.

Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”

The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.

“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.

Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.

Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.

The post Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.

The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home

Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.

He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.

During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.

Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.

“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.

Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.

His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.

His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.

“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.

Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”

Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.

“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”

Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.

The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.

Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.

“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.

The post Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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