A total of four hostages have been released out of over 200. Now most recently the two elderly women, one of whom is Yocheved Lifschitz who participated in a press conference on Tuesday, and the other is Nurit Cooper who is now being treated in hospital. Their spouses are still in the grip of Hamas.
Yocheved Lifschitz was abducted on a motorcycle into Gaza on 7 October. She describes that she had shortness of breath and also got bruises during the journey, that she “went through hell” and that they were beaten with sticks. But the situation when they were held captive must have been tolerable.
– The hostage takers took care of every single detail, says her daughter who translated during the press conference.
Ate the same thing as the hostage takers
After Yocheved Lifschitz was brought into Gaza, she had to walk several kilometers in the underground tunnels, she says. She describes the ground in the tunnels as wet and soft. For every five hostages in her group there was a prison guard, and the facilities were described as “clean”.
They are said to have been given cucumber and white cheese to eat – the same food as the guards. There must have been medical personnel and doctors down in the tunnels with the hostages.
Not over before everyone is released
In a video released by Hamas after her release, the mother appears to take the hand of one of the hostages.
– The way she walked away and then came back and said thank you was absolutely incredible to me. It’s so typical of her, says Sharone Lifschitz to the BBC.
But the journey is not over until every hostage is released, says her daughter about her mother’s attitude.
Her husband still in Gaza
Yocheved Lifschitz’s husband, Oded Lifschitz, is still being held by Hamas. He is Israeli and a champion of peace and Palestinian rights.
During his professional life as a journalist, he has, among other things, defended the rights of the Bedouins when they were driven from their homes in Rafah, in southern Gaza. He was also one of the first journalists to report on the massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1972, writes BBC.
Yocheved Lifschitz’s daughter, Sharone Lifschitz, says Oded Lifschitz knows Arabic and should be able to communicate well with the hostage-takers in Gaza.
The release of Yocheved Lifschitz and the other woman is supposed to be after a negotiation between Qatar and Egypt.