Starting tomorrow (Thursday), according to the hostage release deal, some 50 women and children will be transferred into Israeli hands at Rafah crossing. The first to meet the hostages will come from the Red Cross, followed by IDF soldiers, who will then take the children to safety inside Israel.
The instructions given the soldiers who will meet the children, telling them how to behave around them, what to say, and how to mediate the situation, have been made public, according to a report by journalist Yishay Cohen.
Instruction number one: try and pair each child with one soldier, or at least each family unit with one soldier.
Instruction number two: when they first talk to the child, soldiers should say: “Helly, my name is (soldier’s name), I am a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces and I am accompanying you so you can go home. You are in a safe place. I am here to take care of you, you are safe.”
Instruction number three: this includes questions to ask the child – “Are your cold or hot?” “Are you thirsty?” and if the soldier sees a child having difficulty walking, he should offer him “Can I take your hand? Is it OK if I pick you up and help you walk?”
Due to the lack of knowledge of what the children underwent in captivity and the fear that physical touch will trigger them, the army published clear instructions not to touch the child without his permission.
The soldier can offer giving a hand or a hug, but only as an offer. The instructions stress that the child should not be held or lifted up without his permission.
If the child’s condition requires picking him up or somehow touching him, this can be done and mediated to the child as much as possible, explaining: “I’m going to pick you up because…” “We will now be quiet and soon we can talk.”
