The IDF mental health officers who received the returning hostages described the strategy they implemented to this end as one built on dignity and calm, according to the army on Wednesday.
Their mission marked the “beginning of the healing” for the families and the country, the officers said.
Maj. (res.) Nahum Friedman, a mental health officer in the IDF’s Combat Reaction Unit working alongside the Technological and Logistics Directorate (ATAL), said that the team trained for multiple scenarios because no one knew what condition the captives would be in when they returned.
“It was a great honor to be part of the team that received the returnees,” he said. “We prepared extensively with our other partners for this mission.”
“The reception itself was extremely moving, with a sense of privilege and pride to be part of this wonderful process, which is critical both for the returning hostages and for the state,” the IDF said in a statement attributed to Friedman’s remarks.
Another IDF mental health officer, a clinical social worker, and a psychotherapist, Lt.-Col. (res.) Daria Shalev said that their mission began in November 2023 and that taking part in each wave culminated in “a closing of a circle.”
“The knowledge that families are reuniting, that mothers who fought for their sons can finally hug them, gives hope,” she said. “Now we can, as a people, begin to focus on rehabilitation.”
Lt.-Col. (res.) Dr. Leah Shelef discussed the quiet focus and process of receiving the captives as a Red Cross vehicle pulled in, and the hostages began stepping out.
“The door opened and they came down, one by one,” she said. “I would call a name, and the hostage would respond. [I then] extended a hand for a handshake, made eye contact, and smiled: ‘Welcome back. I am here to accompany you to meet the family. We have been waiting for you. How good it is that you are here.’”
Maj. (res.) Dr. Yael Shoval Zuckerman said that the IDF Medical Corps’ Unit, along with the Combat Reaction Unit, was in charge of caring for the physical and mental well-being of the hostages in the first stages of their return.
Both units made an effort to anticipate every small detail to ease the transition. “There are no words to describe the range of emotions at the moment when the door of the Red Cross jeep opened and the hostages came out,” she said.
“They moved from darkness to light, from isolation and cruelty to human warmth. These are moments that mark a beginning, the beginning of healing, rehabilitation, and a return to life,” the IDF’s statement quoted her as saying.
“I felt like I was the representative of the Medical Corps Unit, of the army, and of an entire nation that was waiting for them with love and hope while saying: Welcome home.”
First steps towards hostages' rehabilitation
Maj. (res.) Yossi Mitz, who manages ATAL’s northern branch, said the mental health officers and their colleagues walked the returnees through the first steps toward rehabilitation.
“Their courage and coping during captivity is amazing and so moving,” he said.
“In supporting, accompanying, and embracing the hostages, I also felt like I was representing the soldiers in regular army service and in the reserves who fought so hard for this very moment, the many wounded in body and soul who were coping with immense challenges, anticipating this moment, and the fallen who went out to fight and fell for this very day of the hostages’ return. Am Yisrael Chai.”
According to the IDF’s statement, sensitivity, calm, and accuracy guided the mental health teams throughout the reception process, as families and returnees took their first steps together after captivity.