Hostage Freed by Hamas Reveals Details of Captivity
Of the hostages released so far, she was the first to give an interview. Yocheved Lifshitz is 85 years old and was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists for 17 days. She spoke to journalists in a hospital in Tel Aviv and to explain everything that had happened to her in recent days, she had the help of her daughter, who left London to stay with her mother.
“I went to hell,” he says.
She said she was kidnapped from her home. She said she heard the terrorists coming and was soon taken away on a motorcycle. So on October 7th, more hostages and other ladies like them were taken by Hamas.
1 of 2 Yocheved Lifshitz, 85 years old, hostage released by Hamas this Tuesday (24) Photo: JN Yocheved Lifshitz, 85 years old, hostage released by Hamas this Tuesday (24) Photo: JN
Yocheved said that as soon as she entered the Gaza Strip, she was attacked with batons by a group waiting for Hamas to arrive with the hostages. She said when she was attacked, I could hardly breathe. She was then brought into a vast underground network by terrorists who compared her to a spider’s web.
Images from the Israeli Defense Forces show what some of the tunnels used by Hamas look like. The Israeli lady said that she had walked for miles through tunnels like this, that everything was very dark and very damp, and that she had been held captive in one of these galleries along with four other hostages and that inside they had again been attacked with sticks be . But she said she was treated well afterward.
The Israeli government said the image of the hostages being released was an attempt by Hamas to portray itself as a humanitarian organization.
Defense Force spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the video was cynical and would not make Israel forget October 7, and thanked Egypt and the Red Cross for their efforts to free the hostages.
The two’s husbands were also kidnapped by Hamas and remain in captivity.
Yocheved and her husband are human rights activists who help Gazans. He is a journalist and the British Union of Journalists said in a statement that Oded Lifshitz had campaigned for peace and recognition of Palestinian rights for decades and said that in recent years he had volunteered for an association that voluntarily transports Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who are allowed to cross the border and receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. The note calls for the 83yearold journalist’s release.
In the interview this Tuesday (24), Yocheved said that her husband is doing well. The daughter said she didn’t know where the family was going now. His parents’ home was destroyed and burned down in the October 7 attacks.
2 of 2 One of the 220 hostages who were still in the hands of Hamas in the last picture that appeared Photo: JN One of the 220 hostages who were still in the hands of Hamas in the last picture that appeared were Photo: JN
What we are seeing today is a diplomatic attempt by several governments to release more hostages soon. Qatar and Egypt played important roles in these negotiations; 220 hostages remain under Hamas power in the Gaza Strip.
“My son is a happy guy. Suddenly, when I see him alone in a situation like this, I can’t eat or sleep,” says the mother of one of the hostages.
In the last picture she has of her son, he is scared and cowering against a wall.