Israeli government ministries preparing for return of hostages from Gaza with treatment, aid packages

Various ministries of the Israeli government are making preparations to receive the hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza that will begin to return on Sunday according to the approved ceasefire deal. 

The Health Ministry has published the medical protocol to be followed upon receiving the captives, detailing the treatment, the stages of care, and the long-term support to be given to the hostages after their return. 

The Health Ministry recommended a minimum hospitalization period of at least four days for each hostage, though the final decision will be made on a case-by-case basis, and is subject to the agreement of the hostages and their families. 

The Health Ministry also identified the hospitals which will receive the hostages for initial care and evaluation: Ichilov, Beilinson, Sheba, Shamir, Barzilai, and Soroka. The facilities were chosen for their proximity to the Gaza Border and their high level of critical care capability. 

The Health Ministry protocol will provide separate facilities designed specifically for the returnees, including private rooms for the hostages and family members, separate gathering areas for larger gatherings with extended family members, and separate rooms for military representatives to meet with the returnees in privacy without hindering medical treatment. 

Each hospital will receive the existing medical records of each returning hostage as soon their return has been confirmed by the reception teams, allowing the medical teams to prepare for any pre-existing issues and give personalized care. 

Alongside the work being done by the Health Ministry, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoav Ben Tzur said earlier Thursday that the National Insurance Institute has prepared to aid the hostages upon their return. 

Speaking at his party’s annual conference, Ben Tzur said, “This is a big day for the State of Israel. The National Insurance Institute is prepared and ready for their return to the country.” 

“There is a whole basket of support that has been prepared for the hostages who will be returning, from an immediate grant of NIS 10,000 ($2,700) for immediate needs, to a per abductee grant of NIS 50,000 ($13,800) for medical treatment, and the unconditional recognition of 50 percent disability status.” 

Ben Tzur recognized that the aid has limitations, but stated his desire that it would help them on the road to recovery. 

“All of this won’t help them forget so quickly what they went through but I hope that God will heal their bodies and souls,” Ben Tzur said. 

Israel’s Defense Ministry is also making preparations for the returning hostages. Defense Minister Israel Katz and the ministry’s director general, Eyal Zamir, held preparation assessments with various directors and officials in the ministry as part of those preparations. 

The ministry said its Rehabilitation Department and Department of Families and Commemoration “have been placed on full alert alongside the IDF.”

The departments will “provide all necessary assistance and support to the returning hostages and their families in all aspects,” the ministry said. 

The statement by the Defense Ministry said its departments “will conduct an accelerated operational, logistical effort to execute all aspects required by the IDF to implement the deal, including infrastructure work and providing all logistical solutions needed for the operation’s success.”