An Israeli woman who was taken hostage by Hamas and was recently freed said the militant group “took care of the sanitary side.”
Yocheved Lifshitz, an elderly 85-year-old grandmother, was one of two hostages released on Monday. The release of Lifshitz and her neighbor, Nurit Cooper, 79, came days after two Americans, Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter Natalie, 17, were released. More than 200 people are believed to still be held hostage by Hamas.
During a surprise attack launched by Hamas on Oct. 7, Liftshitz was taken from her home. Thousands of rockets were fired, and more than 1,400 Israelis, including 32 Americans, were killed as a result of the attack.
While Lifshitz told CNN how she had been beaten and sustained injuries during the surprise attack, telling them, “I went through hell,” she added the militant group was good about hygiene and cleaning so that the hostages “didn’t get sick.”
“They really took care of the sanitary side of things so that we didn’t get sick,” Liftshitz told the outlet.
"They gave us pitta bread, hard cheese, some low fat cream cheese, and cucumber and that was our food for the entire day."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 24, 2023
Freed Hamas hostage Yocheved Lifshitz recounts her experience saying "there were people there who took care of all the needs."
? https://t.co/ViphYGDoVz pic.twitter.com/FNxgBznX0F
Lifshitz added that when she was first taken hostage, she was taken inside a “huge network” of an underground tunnel system that was described as being similar to a spiderweb.
When she first arrived, Liftshitz was grouped with about 25 people, before being broken off into a smaller group with people from her kibbutz, an intentional community.
Each person from her group had their own doctor, Liftshitz said, adding that there was a paramedic present to oversee medication.
Liftshitz explained prisoners slept on mattresses placed on the tunnel floors and ate the same food that Hamas militants did.
“They were very generous to us, very kind,” Lifshitz said of Hamas. “They kept us clean. They took care of every detail. There are a lot of women and they know about feminine hygiene and they took care of everything there.”
Liftshitz’s daughter, Sharone, told the outlet that while she is “delighted” about her mother’s release, she still fears for her father and other hostage’s safety.
Obed Liftshitz, 83, and Amiram Cooper, 85, the husbands of the two women recently released, are among the hostages still held by Hamas, according to the outlet.
“My father is there and so many other people we know are waiting for good news about everyone,” Sharone told the outlet. “We don’t know what’s going on with them. Not even know if they’re alive or what their situation is.”
In response to the Oct. 7 attack, Israel declared war on Hamas. While Israel has so far delayed a ground invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has ramped up and continued with its airstrikes against Hamas.
