AGI – She went through hell from which she didn’t believe she would ever return: sRider at 85 years old beaten by gunmen who broke into her kibbutz and taken to the Gaza Strip, where she remained trapped for two weeks in the vast network of tunnels developing in the bowels of the Palestinian enclave.
Yocheved Lifshitz was published last night and from Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv he recounted his “nightmare” that the more than 200 hostages in the hands of the Islamic Movement were still alive. Her husband Oded, 83, is still there in the Gaza Strip: Both peace activists have been helping sick Palestinians in Gaza for years with treatment in Israel and transporting them from the Erez border crossing to hospitals.
“I went through hell that I didn’t think I would survive. “I didn’t think we would get this far,” he said, recalling the horrific moments when Hamas terrorists “blowd up the electronic fence, this special fence that cost $2.5 billion to build, but that “didn’t do anything.”
“They have attacked our houses, beat people, took hostages“They didn’t differentiate between young and old,” she continued, saying she was put on a motorcycle during the transfer to the Strip and beaten with sticks, damaging her ribs so badly that she had difficulty breathing.
“They took us to the entrance of the tunnel and we walked for miles, there is a gigantic tunnel system, like spider webs. When we got there they told us that they believed in the Koran, that they would not harm us and that we would live in the tunnels like them. After a few hours of walking, we reached a room with 25 people and they divided us up based on where we lived. At Nir Oz there were five of us. “They watched us closely,” the 85-year-old continued, emphasizing that she and other hostages who needed it were provided medical care, “a doctor every two to three days.”
According to his story The kidnappers were treated well and were friendly: “We lay on mattresses, they made sure that everything was hygienic, that we didn’t get sick. They cleaned our bathrooms with disinfectants so that we wouldn’t get infected, they were afraid of an epidemic. They made sure we ate the same food they ate: pita with white cheese and pickles.
“They treated us kindly and took care of us. They were prepared for this, they had been preparing for a while, they had everything women and men needed. Even shampoo and conditioner.”
The 85-year-old, who was released yesterday along with 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, attacked the government, which had “abandoned” communities around Gaza weeks before the October 7 Hamas attack, and the security forces didn’t know at all what was happening. It was imminent: “Three weeks ago, masses of people arrived at the fence” at the border, but “the armed forces didn’t take it seriously. We were left to our own devices. We were the scapegoat.”
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