Disturbing details about the abuse of the three male hostages who were rescued last Shabbos were revealed in a report by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday and in interviews that the parents of Andrey Kozlov held with many media outlets.

The three men, Andrey Kozlov, 28, Almog Meir Jan, 21, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were held together in a dark room for six months and spoke only with each other and the terrorists. They slept on thin mattresses on the floor.

Andrey told his parents that for the first two months, their hands and feet were bound. Their hands were bound behind their back for the first few weeks, and afterward, their hands were bound in front of them.

At times, to punish them, the terrorists would pile up blankets on top of them at the hottest part of the day and leave them like that for hours. Another punishment they received was being locked in the bathroom. At other times, they were forced to relieve themselves in a bucket and weren’t provided toilet paper.

They also endured severe psychological abuse, with the terrorists repeatedly threatening to kill them and constantly telling them that no one wanted them and that Israel isn’t fighting for them. They told Andrey that his mother was on vacation in Greece and doesn’t care about him, and told Shlomi Ziv that his wife is dating someone else and his children weren’t doing anything to get him released. They even told them that the IDF wants to kill them in order to bring the war to an end. When the IDF soldiers came to rescue them, Andrey thought they were coming to murder them, not rescue them. He was also shocked when Prime Minister Netanyahu came to visit him in the hospital, not understanding why he would want to acknowledge him.

Andrey’s father said that when he first came back, Andrey said that there were things he endured that he’ll never reveal.

Dr. Itai Pessach, who treated the hostages at Sheba, told CNN on Monday that the hostages suffered “a harsh, harsh experience” and they were beaten and and abused almost daily.

“Every hour, both physical, mental, and other types, and that is something that is beyond comprehension,” Pessach said. “We’ve heard stories that are beyond anything you can imagine.”

He said that they also suffered from severe malnutrition. Although they did not appear emaciated, Pessach said that “they had no protein, so their muscles are extremely wasted, there is damage to some other systems because of that.”

A nutritionist from Sheba said that the hostages are suffering from severe malnutrition and ate only a tenth of the calories they needed and no protein at all.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)