The National Council for Nutritional Security released a statement on Tuesday addressing its deep concern for the well-being of the 120 hostages remaining in Hamas captivity and urging international bodies to, at a minimum, ensure humanitarian aid reaches those held hostage in Gaza.
Having now spent over 290 days in Gaza, the council stressed the health of the hostages is of deep concern- especially given the testimonies of released hostages which made clear that captives were subjected to neglect, hunger, limited water consumption, and lack of essential nutrients.
The council said that the hostage’s “nutritional and health status were severely impacted, leading to irreversible long-term complications and immediate life-threatening situations.”
“The physiological implications of poor nutrition and prolonged starvation are the inability to meet the body's basic needs, leading to tissue depletion, including fat and muscle tissue, impaired function of various systems, particularly the immune system, cognitive impairment, and mental health deterioration,” the council explained in their statement. “These effects lead to severe and sometimes irreversible health impairments, and in some cases, death.”
The demographic makeup of the remaining hostages ranges in terms of gender, age range (1 to 86 years) and medical condition prior to abduction. Some of the hostages were known to have pre-existing conditions such as asthma, inflammatory bowel diseases, osteoporosis, epilepsy, and food allergies such as celiac disease and lactose intolerance.
Prolonged suffering of hostages
In addition to complex health needs, the hostages will likely require appropriate medical, pharmaceutical and nutritious treatment due to the prolonged torture and violence they have been subjected to by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. Released hostages have testified that they received inadequate care for injuries sustained during October 7, with one hostage revealing she was treated by a vet.
“Having nutritional security is a basic right for every individual,” the council stressed. “Proper nutritional security includes ensuring the ability of every person to access food regularly, continuously, and routinely, food containing all necessary nutrients for proper development and health.
“The restriction of essential supplies, lack of supervision, preventing humanitarian visits by the Red Cross, and restricting access to food over a long period of time as mentioned above, not only constitutes ongoing torture but also poses a real-life threat to defenseless and innocent individuals, which is reprehensible by all humanitarian standards!
“The National Council for Nutritional Security calls on the international community, the government, and human rights organizations to intervene and use all necessary means to ensure the immediate release of the hostages or, at the very least, to take immediate humanitarian action to ensure the hostages' nutritional security according to their nutritional requirements and medical condition.”