24-10-2023 (TEL AVIV) An 85-year-old Israeli woman who was recently released by the Palestinian militant group Hamas has shared her account of the ordeal. Yocheved Lifshitz, a resident of the Nir Oz kibbutz, located near the Gaza Strip, was among the victims of an attack by Hamas militants on October 7. She detailed her experience, stating that she was beaten during her abduction but was treated well during her more than two-week captivity in Gaza.
Lifshitz spoke to the media at a Tel Aviv hospital, where she and fellow hostages are now receiving medical care. She described how she and the other hostages were subjected to physical abuse during their initial abduction, saying, “The guys beat me on the way, they didn’t break my ribs but hurt me there very much.” However, she also noted that, once in captivity, their treatment improved significantly.
“They treated us well,” Lifshitz said, highlighting that a doctor visited them every two to three days and provided necessary medical care, including medicines.
Lifshitz’s husband, who is also in his 80s, remains among the more than 200 hostages still held in Gaza. When asked about her surprising gesture of reaching out to shake the hand of one of her captors upon her release, Lifshitz explained, “They treated us gently, and provided all our needs.”
In her account, Lifshitz depicted her captors as surprisingly “very friendly” and “very courteous” people who had made elaborate preparations for taking hostages. “They seemed ready for this, they prepared for a long time, they had everything that men and women needed, including shampoo,” she revealed.
She also described the diet they were provided during their captivity, stating, “We ate the same food they did – pitas with cream cheese, melted cheese, cucumbers. That was a meal for an entire day.”
Lifshitz and another resident of Nir Oz, Nurit Cooper, 79, were released three days after an American woman and her daughter were freed, marking a series of releases that have captured international attention and raised questions about the motivations and conduct of the Hamas militant group.
