Freed Hamas hostage Yocheved Lifshitz describes the “spider internet” of Gaza’s tunnels

One of many hostages launched by Hamas described the nightmare she lived after being kidnapped from her dwelling in Israel and transported to a “spider internet” of tunnels below Gaza.

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, mentioned on Tuesday that she was crushed with sticks whereas being transported on a bike from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. She and her 79-year-old neighbor Nurit Cooper had been lastly launched on Monday, making them simply the third and fourth individuals scheduled to be launched amongst greater than 200 individuals kidnapped by Hamas because the assaults started earlier this month. Lifshitz’s husband, 83, remains to be being held hostage.

On Monday night, Hamas revealed a video clip displaying the second Lifshitz and Cooper had been launched, and so they had been handed over to representatives of the Worldwide Crimson Cross, in accordance with what Israeli media reported. BBC. The footage exhibits Lifshitz confirming her age and title, and earlier than leaving, strolling as much as a masked Hamas activist, shaking his hand and saying “Shalom,” which implies “peace.”

The couple’s launch comes after the discharge of American Judith Rannan, 59, and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on Friday. The Ranana household says that eight different members of their household are nonetheless being held by Hamas.

Talking from the Tel Aviv hospital the place Lifshitz is now recovering on Tuesday morning, Lifshitz’s daughter, Sharon, helped translate whereas Lifshitz instructed reporters that she was “dwelling in hell” for the 2 weeks throughout which she was detained and detained. “They’ve unfold all through our kibbutz,” she mentioned. Haaretz. “I used to be taken hostage. They put me on a bike and sped by way of the forest.”

The Israeli grandmother mentioned she was crushed alongside the way in which and had problem respiratory, including that Hamas activists took her watch and jewellery. Lifshitz additionally criticized the safety failures that allowed her to be kidnapped. “They blew up the digital fence, this non-public fence that value $2.5 billion to construct however did not assist something,” she mentioned. “The crowds raided our properties. They beat individuals and took some hostage. They didn’t differentiate between younger individuals and previous individuals, and it was very painful.”

She says she was taken to Hamas’ community of tunnels, which she likens to a spider’s internet. “After we received there, they instructed us that they believed within the Qur’an and that they’d not hurt us,” Lifshitz was quoted as saying.

Lifshitz mentioned she first entered by way of an underground tunnel into a big room containing about 25 individuals. After about two or three hours, 5 individuals from the kibbutz had been taken to a separate room. “They guarded us intently,” Lifshitz added.

In accordance with the BBCLifshitz mentioned there was a health care provider and a paramedic underground along with her kidnappers. She mentioned the prisoners slept on mattresses on the ground within the tunnels beneath Gaza — which Lifshitz described as clear — and mentioned a health care provider visited them each two to a few days. She added that one of many prisoners who was severely injured in a bike accident on his approach to the tunnels obtained therapy for his wounds.

The hostages got the identical meals as their captors: white cheese and cucumbers, Lifshitz mentioned. She additionally added that Hamas “took care of each element” and even had ladies who knew “female hygiene.”

Lifshitz’s daughter, Sharon, instructed reporters that her mom feels “the story isn’t over till everybody comes again.” Among the many dozens of hostages nonetheless held by Hamas is Lifshitz’s husband, Oded Lifshitz, a journalist who has spent many years advocating for Palestinian rights, in accordance with the BBC. Oded participated together with his spouse in establishing the kibbutz from which they had been kidnapped, and in recent times they volunteered in a gaggle that transports Palestinian sufferers from Gaza to Israeli hospitals to obtain therapy.

Greater than 1 / 4 of their kibbutz is taken into account lifeless or lacking following the October 7 Hamas assaults, which killed 1,400 Israelis in complete, in accordance with Israeli figures. The Israeli authorities – which continues to reply to the assaults with large-scale strikes that officers in Gaza say have killed greater than 5,000 individuals – is working to free the remaining hostages.

The US has reportedly suggested Israel to delay a floor invasion of Gaza to permit extra time for hostage negotiations and to permit humanitarian help into the Strip, which is affected by extreme shortages of meals, water, gasoline and medical provides amid the Israeli blockade. .