The health of 84-year-old Elma Abraham, who was held hostage by Hamas, is improving. The elderly woman was taken to hospital in critical condition after being released. However, today her health is improving and she is not on mechanical support according to the head of the trauma unit at Soroka Hospital.

“I am pleased to report that in the last few hours there has been an improvement in her condition,” says Professor Moti Klein. “She’s awake, breathing on her own and no longer needs the same level of care as when she got here.”

According to the professor, the 84-year-old woman arrived at the hospital late on Sunday with her hematological indicators being “extremely low” in many cases.

The Nahal Oz resident takes several medications for chronic conditions, some of which doctors have described as life-saving, but she did not have access to those medications while she was being held in Gaza.

“That’s why she was listed in a life-threatening condition,” says the professor. “These signs combined with the laboratory tests strengthened the belief that her condition was apparently the result of not taking these required medications.”

The 84-year-old woman remains in intensive care to continue her treatment.