Israel Prepares for 'Captive Pregnancies' and Estimates Only 50 Hostages Remain Alive
Here are this week's updates in the battle to liberate the human beings Hamas is torturing.
This is the fourth installment in a new series at God of the Desert Books, Hostage Liberation News, which will focus exclusively on new developments and efforts in the fight to ensure the release of the human beings kidnapped by the Islamist terror group Hamas for use as human shields.
Please see our previous writings on this subject, linked at the bottom of this post. You can also read the 90 installments of the Antisemitism and Culture and Axis of Genocide series here. See also the first installment in the new Academic Inferno series, just launched this week, here.
On Monday, I reported for JNS on Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech to raise awareness about International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, which would occur two days later:
Harris said that released hostages have begun revealing stories of the sexual violence they endured in captivity.
“These testimonies, I fear, will only increase as more hostages are released,” she said. “We cannot look away, and we will not be silent. My heart breaks for all these survivors and their families.”
Harris repeated the Biden administration’s demand that Hamas “needs to accept the deal that is on the table for the ceasefire.”
“Globally, our system of accountability remains inadequate,” Harris said. “It is the responsibility of all of us—governments, international organizations, civil society and individual citizens—to actively confront combat-related sexual violence and work to rid our world of this heinous crime.”
It was a very effective, moving speech. As easy as it usually is to criticize the Vice President on all many of policy grounds, she really hit the mark.
On Tuesday, reports emerged that three weeks before Oct. 7, the IDF had started to gather intelligence of a Hamas plan to kidnap at least 200 hostages. The terror groups could be seen drilling for their terror attack. IDF leadership did not take it seriously, regarding the preparations as a “provocation.”
On Wednesday, the Anti-Defamation League commemorated the day raising awareness about rape as a weapon of war and stated, “16 female hostages remain in Hamas captivity and are at constant risk of sexual and physical abuse. More than 8 months have passed since 10/7. We must #BringThemHomeNow.”
The image the ADL shared tops this post. Please share it on your own social media and/or Substack too.
Released hostage Ada Sagi had worked as a peace activist. She told the BBC that “I don't believe in peace, I don't, sorry. I understand Hamas don't want it."
On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials believe that of the 116 hostages still held by Hamas, only 50 are believed to still be alive. The assessment derives from a combination of U.S. and Israeli intelligence.
On Friday, JNS reported that “Israel braces for pregnancies in captivity.” The article notes the accounts of three released hostages:
Sexual violence against captives has been a topic of public discourse, particularly following the courageous testimony of released hostage Amit Soussana about enduring sexual assault while in captivity, as well as the accounts of Aviva Segal and Agam Goldstein-Almog, and a U.N. report on the subject.
The article explained the consequences for women impregnated through sexual violence while in captivity:
These include a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, severe dissociation (detachment), body image disturbances and sexual dysfunction. Behavioral consequences such as alcohol and drug abuse were also noted.
The risk of developing PTSD after such an assault is 6.2 times higher than for women not victimized by crime. When the assault is compounded by other traumas such as physical attacks or torture, the incidence of depression, anxiety and body image disturbances increases further.
A German study of 296 Yazidi survivors found that 67% suffered from body image disturbances, 53% from depression, 39% from anxiety and 28% from dissociation. PTSD prevalence ranged from 39% to 57%, depending on the number of assaults endured.
From my own experience of post-traumatic stress disorder these last few years, I learned that a key determinant of whether one develops the condition depends on if the violence was experienced while in a state of confinement. You are in tremendous pain, so afraid that you will die, and there is no escape.
On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to mark hostage Naama Levy’s 20th birthday.
An unnamed Israeli source told Channel 12 News that the most-recent hostage deal proposed to Hamas would not come together because “the mediators have no leverage over Sinwar in the tunnel — or at least not enough. He is the one who decides.”
On Sunday, Levy’s aunt Hadas Zubary, told JNS that the event was “not a celebration; we organized events and posted about it hoping she’d see some of it through the media. We know for a fact that former hostages were aware of the weekly rallies for their release. We needed to take a chance.”
Let’s revisit the first two of five predictions from the first installment of this series from the beginning of the month:
No deal will be reached for further hostage releases.
Hamas has murdered most of the un-recovered hostages.
With so much of what I believe — not just about this war but with most things today it seems — I wish that others could convince me I’m wrong.
See the previous installments in this ongoing series:
See these writings in the “Axis of Genocide” series for previous Hostage Liberation News:
Those filthy jihadist savages rape, torture, and impregnate--and 90% of the "international community" shrug, sniff, and say, "Those Jewish c_nts deserve it." Only overwhelming military force can quell the jihadists, if only temporarily.