One of two freed elderly Israeli hostages, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz recounted being taken hostage by Hamas fighters after a surprise attack on October 7 and later her release by the captors.
While talking to the international media outside a Tel Aviv hospital on Tuesday, Yocheved Lifshitz said, “When I was on the bike, my head was on one side and the rest of my body on the other side. The young men hit me on the way. They didn’t break my ribs but it was painful and I had difficulty breathing.”
“They were gentle with us.”
Freed Israeli captive Yocheved Lifshitz on why she shook hands with one of her Hamas captors. pic.twitter.com/KnKZlDNBPa
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 24, 2023
“I’ve been through hell … we didn’t think or know we would get to this situation,” Al-Jazeera quoted the freed Israeli hostage who was seen shaking a Hamas fighter during her release.
Once in Gaza, however, she said her captors “treated her well”, giving her and other captives “the same food they ate” and bringing in a doctor to provide medicine.
“They treated us gently, and provided all our needs,” she said, when questioned about her reason for shaking the hand of one of her captors at the moment of her release.
“They seemed ready for this, they prepared for a long time, they had everything that men and women needed, including shampoo,” she added.
The elderly Israeli woman, who lives in the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, said Israel’s military had underestimated the threat posed by Hamas, and that the costly security fence “didn’t help at all”.
