Freed Israeli hostages tell families of beatings and death threats

Israeli women and children on their return from Hamas captivity in Gaza speak of being beaten and threatened with death, moved from place to place and forced to whisper during weeks spent with little to do, their families say.

Most hostages released during a six-day-old truce have been rushed to hospitals out of sight in a country still reeling from the shock of their abduction during a Hamas rampage on Oct. 7 in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed.

Danny Brom, director of METIV: The Israel Psychotrauma Center, said some will need medical treatment but others will not. Many will need to talk, and "the main issue that needs to be restored is a sense of control," he said.