Nick Shiffrin:
The released hostages face enormous psychological and, for some, physical trauma.
Earlier today, I spoke with Professor Hagai Levin, head of the medical team and resilience team at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, who is part of the team that met hostages who are now free again.
Professor, let me start by asking you, how are they?
Hagai Levin, Forum of Hostages and Missing Families: We know that for some of the hostages who were released today, two women have already arrived here. Some of them spoke to their families.
I know from one family that Grandma speaks well on the phone. We saw some pictures of them walking, which is encouraging. However, the recovery process will be long. Not only will they need psychological and physical support, but they will also need to be examined to rule out any specific medical problems.
We know, for some of them, I know their medical file. I know that they suffer from severe chronic diseases that may not have been treated properly. So they still need to be examined, and in parallel, more than 200 innocent people are still being held by Hamas, not receiving the proper medical care and psychological care needed to recover.
Tonight, we really hope that they will all be released this week, or at the very least, that the Red Cross will visit them to examine and treat them.
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