Israeli officials are drawing up plans to deal with the possibility of unwanted pregnancies in women who were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack. Hostages, held under Hamas, who have gotten “pregnant from being raped in Gaza” will have to decide whether to keep their baby or terminate the pregnancy after their release.
More than 130 Israelis were held in Gaza after nearly four months of war including young women and teenage girls. Preliminary information suggests that some have been subjected to sexual abuse, both during the initial attack and in Hamas captivity, according to local news outlet Walla.
There have been talks in hospitals and among gynecologists across the country about preparing for the return of Israeli hostages who have been sexually assaulted and are currently at different stages of pregnancy. A pregnancy termination committee typically determines whether to grant an abortion request, but officials are considering bypassing that step to reduce the red tape, The New York Post reported, citing Israeli media.
SEXUAL ABUSE
The Associated Press last month reported that the Israeli civilians released by Hamas, both men and women, were sexually assaulted or abused while in captivity. In a report detailing allegations of severe and widespread sexual abuse, a doctor who treated some of the 110 hostages released from captivity told the AP that at least 10 men and women among those freed were sexually assaulted or abused.
At a discussion in the Israeli parliament on Tuesday, Chen Almog-Goldstein, who was released from captivity after more than 50 days in Gaza, revealed that some of the younger female hostages have stopped menstruating. “There are girls who have not gotten their period in a long time. Perhaps we all have to pray that their bodies protect them and they won’t get pregnant from rape,” the 49-year-old said.
Aviva Siegel, a former Hamas captive, recently told Israeli lawmakers that she witnessed members of the terror group bringing female captives “inappropriate clothing, dolls clothes.” Siegel said the women hostages have been turned into “puppets with whom they could do what they wanted, when they wanted, and it’s beyond belief that they’re still there.’’
Urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act swiftly to free the remaining hostages, relatives of captives stressed that the longer their loved ones remain in captivity, the higher the risk they would end up pregnant. If the women are not released in the next few months, the kin of female hostages fear that it will be too late to end their pregnancies. Meanwhile, the Israeli media said that women who decide to keep their babies will receive financial, legal and mental health support from the government.
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