When five recovering surveillance soldiers, newly freed from their horrific 470-plus days in Hamas captivity, interlocked their hands into heart shapes, that image became iconic.
They were standing on a balcony at the entrance to their returnees’ ward, listening to a magnificent concert under the baton of Michael Wolpe, initiated by a member and the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, and held in their honor while receiving medical treatment from Beilinson Hospital.
“We saw people coming from the most horrible place imaginable, and they were grateful. You would think they would be angry or mad, feeling abandoned, but they weren’t.
“They did the heart spontaneously to show their love and gratitude for whatever it took to be released,” said Prof. Noa Eliakim-Raz, head doctor of the Returnees Department.
“Each returnee has her or his own capsule, with their own doctor, nurse, social worker, psycho-social caregiver from the Geha Mental Health Center, nutritionist, physiotherapists, and an accompanying officer on behalf of the IDF, in a specially designed returnees ward for initial hospitalization, followed up by rehabilitation visits as outpatients, according to personal requirements,” she added.
In commemoration of International Women’s Day, which was celebrated on March 8, Beilinson staff invited the Magazine to meet for an open discussion with the women in the Returnees ward.
“We’ve been open for over a year and ready to get back the hostages,” explained Prof. Eliakim-Raz, who leads the medical team treating and rehabilitating the returnees, as they are called from the moment they disembark from Beilinson’s helicopter landing pad.
While hostages’ personal details were strictly off limits, the six-woman team who make up the hostage returnees ward were happy to share what they do and what was required to create hostage rehabilitation protocols, basically from scratch.
Prof. Eliakim-Raz explained the transition process. “From November 2023, we prepared a team that had not existed before. Some of the preparation involved creating a team from people who hadn’t worked together every day.
“I chose people from many places in the hospital – and that was a challenge. You have to work together perfectly. We did many simulations of medical situations and psycho-social situations.”
Prof. Eliakim-Raz – an infectious disease specialist and head of a 42-bed internal medicine ward at the medical center – trained with five women from other departments, who formed the team.
“Everyone wants to be part of this great national mission and work extra on Fridays and Saturdays. We feel proud and privileged to do it. We don’t feel it is a self-sacrifice,” she said.
“We didn’t receive a manual on how to open a returnee’s ward. Nobody told us how to organize the ward the correct way. We had to make this up. Of course, there were consultations with the Health Ministry and other hospitals.
“Professionals from Geha Mental Health Center are also closely involved. The bottom line was to prepare for every situation, from the worst-case scenario because we didn’t know what to expect, even for a case of someone who has spent 15 months underground and didn’t move.
“We wrote a protocol. It started as 10 pages, and now it’s a small book about how to arrange and operate this kind of ward,” she said. “You build something from zero, sitting together and thinking through every single point. Then, every time we treat returnees, we make adjustments.”
AS OF February 2025, a total of 147 hostages have been returned alive to Israel. The Beilinson Medical Center joins Ichilov Hospital and Sheba Medical Center in central Israel, and Soroka Medical Center in the South in treating the hostage returnees. Recently, in addition to the five female surveillance soldiers, Beilinson has treated four men.
“The Health Ministry decides where to send the returnees. It’s not a decision that they share with us. Only when the names come out do they decide which hospital to send the returnees to.
“There are many considerations. Some hospitals still had returnees in their wards, and they had to decide if new returnees would fit. If a family member is treated for chronic conditions in another hospital, that’s a consideration,” Prof. Eliakim-Raz said.
From hostages to returnees
“When I had the honor to have this role, the first person I thought of was Avivit Zatelman to be head nurse of the Returnees ward. We’ve been working together in internal medicine and infectious diseases for 35 years,” Prof. Eliakim-Raz said.
“She basically raised me when I did night shifts as an intern. We put the staff together to create a ward that didn’t exist before.”
Avivit managed all the nursing in the department with endless sensitivity. She led a team of nurses and didn’t just oversee operations – she performed examinations, dressed wounds, and, just as importantly, offered a comforting hug and a listening ear to those in need.
During the first few nights, Avivit refused to go home, staying by the returnees and staff’s side, ensuring every little detail was taken care of with unwavering dedication.
Avivit recalled the difficulties along the way. “There were disappointments because nothing happened. You’re prepping and reordering, but because medicines are expiring, you need to prep them again because there can’t be anything lacking. As time passes, you’re trying to think about the worst-case scenario.”
Prof. Eliakim-Raz also tapped Dr. Sigal Frishman, head of Beilinson Medical Center’s nutrition department, which is affiliated with the Clalit healthcare provider.
In September 2023, Frishman submitted a report to the Health Ministry highlighting the seriousness of “refeeding syndrome.” This syndrome occurs when people are not eating for a long time and lose a great deal of weight. Weeks later, on Oct. 7, the murderous invasion of Israel’s Gaza border communities occurred, with 251 hostages taken by Hamas terrorists and languished in starvation conditions in Gaza.
“There are a lot of metabolic changes in the body, and the refeeding has to be very careful and with a lot of things to do – giving vitamins, minerals, and checking blood,” Frishman explained.
“After you haven’t had food for a long time, you have to make sure your body gets what it needs first. Even if you want sushi, you have to take it step by step. There could be electrolytes that endanger the heart, neurological consequences, and heart damage.
“We saw people who lost up to 40% of their body weight, so that’s the main issue. I want to emphasize the importance of building up muscle mass. If they’re older, it’s hard. As soon as they lose weight, they must develop muscle mass, not fat.
“While they were hostages, they ate poorly. A quarter of a pita and rice were their main foods for the whole year and a half.
“We start to build the nutritional program while they are hospitalized, and follow up in the rehabilitation, accompanying them with nutritional guidance, and food tools such as how to eat and what to eat,” she said.
There’s a strong connection between emotional status and rehabilitation, Frishman pointed out. “The ability to rehabilitate depends on their understanding that their follow-up isn’t for a week or a month. They’re here for as long as they need us because of the situation. To provide the returnees with vitamins is easy. Bringing them up to full rehabilitation has an emotional part, and that can take a long time.
“We’re keeping in touch,” Frishman said with a smile as she recalled a recent conversation with one of the returnees who was invited to meet President Donald Trump.
“First, I love them. When you saw them with President Trump, they were amazing. They said the right things we want to hear; they said they want their brothers and sisters back.”
Nurses should run the world
Limor Reich, who manages the patient experience in the Returnees Department, described her job as making a “bad” experience of being in the hospital into a “good one” for the patient and the family, listening to whatever the patient needs.
“We know this is not their home, but I tell them we’ll do whatever we can to make it feel like home. The main goal is: Whatever they ask, we’ll do what we can to fulfill it.”
One family wanted a ping-pong table. Reich took care of it, and a table-tennis table appeared in a corridor of the ward.
“We gave the families the opportunity to arrive even before the returnees reached the hospital, allowing them to personalize their room in the department with personal items from home. Additionally, we created a kind of ‘pharmacy’ where they could choose their preferred shampoo and conditioner, toothbrush, pajamas, socks, and anything else we could think of to make their hospital stay feel as close to home as possible – creating a sort of temporary home for them.
“Families know that they have the option to bring personal stuff from home, even musical instruments, or pets. Part of the healing of people is to see pets from home. We gave permission for two dogs, and the pets were like residents here,” she said.
“There’s a special collaboration here because the army is an integral part of this war. The army is part of the return of the hostages, and they’re also part of the security. The army is an integral part of the management of the ward; it’s in charge of who enters this ward, and they’re supposed to block entrance to civilians. They arrange everything that’s not medical or psychological,” Prof. Eliakim-Raz said.
Each hostage family since Oct. 7 has been assigned a reserve soldier who accompanies them and sometimes two officers are assigned. They give the families information when there’s new intelligence, and according to the Beilinson team: “They become one of the family. There’s a very good relationship, and families rely on them. They’re very dedicated. It’s a very special relationship.”
Social workers accompany hostages and families
“The social workers accompanied families whose loved ones were coming back,” said Keren Schwartz, director of social services, and another key member of the team. “We accompanied everyone, from children to grandfathers.”
After Oct. 7, social workers were trained how to accompany the family after their loved ones came back from captivity; this included lectures, readings, and meeting others from the field.
“The prep is done before they meet the family. They addressed issues such as, Will she be happy? Too emotional? What if she won’t be happy to see me?” Schwartz said.
“The most important things are what you can ask, what you shouldn’t ask, what you tell, and what you don’t tell. And how do I react to the things they are telling me.
“When you hear something hard, you become silent and the silence can be interpreted as not being able to handle what the returnee wants to share. The families could opt for the training to make preparations.
“After they’ve been alone for so long, without their family and support, the hostages managed to do things on their own. The parents want to feel needed, but the returnees are managing on their own. They used to consult with their family, and now they want to make decisions by themselves. They don’t need to consult their parents. They find their inner voice,” she explained.
Schwartz observed that family roles change before and after captivity. “The family has adjusted to the new situation; and when the family member is out of captivity, they need to find their place again.”
She noted that children may have become more like parents, parents more like children; older brothers taking a younger brother’s role, and the middle child who is suddenly the younger one.
Getting things done
Although Dorit Nagar is the deputy in charge of operations at Beilinson for the entire medical center, in the past few weeks she has found herself in a new role like all the women in this ward: in charge of administration for the Returnees Department.
“This was a completely different experience for me. As an operations manager, I had never worked as part of a team or within an organic department. Even here, my role within the department isn’t clearly defined.
“It’s a constant process of identifying gaps, spotting the voids, and stepping in to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks and that everything runs smoothly. Making sure that all tests happen on time and in the right place for everyone, and that any equipment used by the staff arrives as quickly as possible. There are too many people in charge here,” she said.
“There’s the army, the Health Ministry, and the hospital staff. There is the security service and visitors, so you need to make a schedule that flows. There needs to be the left and right hand of Dr. Eliakim-Raz and head nurse Avivit Zatelman to make this department work.”
In addition to being a hospital that has state-of-the-art equipment for treatment, recovery, and monitoring, Beilinson Medical Center exudes a warm impression that love is waiting there, too.
For one returnee’s birthday, Limor and Dorit organized a celebration, including an artist who she loves, a cake from the department, and festive decoration with balloons.
“We didn’t know what to expect, what condition the returnees would be in, whether they could speak or stand, or whether they could connect with their family members,” said one of the hospital staff.
“The situation is complex, but we met returnees from captivity who are admirable figures. They have this sparkle in their eyes. They still have hope, and they survived. Even though they met such evil, a lack of humanity, they remained human, loving friends with hope.”
Everyone at the Beilinson Returnees ward agrees.
The author is a Haifa-based writer and artist active on www.genesiscards.com and www.substack.com/lianewakabayashi.
