The seven Israeli women have a long rehabilitation process ahead of them, says doctor Ami Benov to reporters. They all suffer from "mild starvation" and vitamin deficiency after 15 months largely underground.
They are not doing well physically, he says according to AP.
All the women were injured during the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023, when they were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Since then, access to care has been extremely limited, according to Benov.
The women's mental state is described as "very complicated". One of the biggest challenges is to get them to understand that they can now decide for themselves what they want to eat, what they want to wear, and when they want to meet with family and friends.
We feel obligated to give them the choice to do exactly what they feel like. But everything must happen in very small steps, says Benov.
So far, Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari have been released from captivity in Gaza, as well as the soldiers Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag.
