“No one wants you back, you will stay here forever”: Exploring the story of the Israeli children who were held in captivity by Hamas

Abstract

Background

Recent armed conflicts around the world have highlighted that child abduction and hostage-taking are pervasive, and of high concern for child rights, child development, and well-being. Little research exists on child hostages in specific conflict contexts.

Objective

This study was designed to examine child hostage stories conveyed by the Israeli children who were released from captivity in Gaza, post the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. Child hostage stories, as published in Israeli media, were based on recorded interviews with the children.

Participants and setting

Fifty-seven child interviews were identified, based on 18 children and youth who were aged 8 to 18. The child interviews in the media were in Hebrew.

Methods

Child interviews were gathered from popular Israeli news channels, which were manually searched using systematic keywords. A search was also conducted through Google and YouTube. All of the included recorded interviews with the released child hostages were analyzed qualitatively, using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Three main themes were generated: 1) the event of being kidnapped from Israel, with three sub-themes, including the kidnapping experience, atrocities witnessed, and entering the territory of Gaza; 2) the story of captivity, with four sub-themes including experiencing harsh environmental conditions, emotional abuse, medical neglect, physical and sexual abuse; and 3) the release from captivity, including experiencing the release, being put into a media show, separating from other hostages, experiencing fear during the exiting, and experiencing disbelief about their freedom.

Conclusions

The Israeli children held captive by Hamas in 2023 endured horrific experiences. Researching these children's experiences through their own words is essential for validating their stories, bearing witness, and deepening our current understanding of the trauma and the violation of these children's rights. This study acknowledges the limitations in its methodology, while also demonstrating the viability of collecting children's testimonies from the media when done ethically. This research advocates for future studies to examine children held captive in such contexts around the globe, and urges the implementation of children's rights paradigm and trauma-informed policy and practice in supporting these children.