By World Israel News Staff

Hamas terrorists holding Israelis captive in the Gaza Strip forced the hostages to take psychiatric medication prior to their release during the seven-day ceasefire between Israel and Gaza last week.

Between Friday, November 24th and Thursday November 30th, Hamas and Islamic Jihad released 110 captives held in the Gaza Strip to the custody of the International Red Cross at the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

Of those 110 captives, 86 held Israeli citizenship, while most of the remaining captives were Thai workers.

According to testimony by an official from the Israeli Health Ministry, terrorists forced the captives to take powerful sedatives before they were released, in order to make them appear calmer and happier when they were received by the International Red Cross at transfers heavily covered by media outlets.

Speaking at a hearing of the Knesset’s Health Committee, Dr. Hagar Mizrachi said that the hostages had been given Clonex, the local brand name of the orally administered benzodiazepine medication clonazepam.

Sold abroad under the brand names Klonopin and Rivotril, clonazepam is used as a sedative, an anti-psychotic drug, and a treatment for chronic anxiety, seizures, bipolar mania, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

While the most common side effects of the drug include drowsiness, fatigue, and irritability, clonazepam has also been known to be highly addictive and can lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior.