Released Israeli hostage lashes out at intelligence agency, IDF

Israeli hostage Yocheved Lifshitz (85), who was released late on Monday night by Hamas, made her first public comments since her release on Tuesday.

Lifshitz, whose husband is still under captivity, lashed out against the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), saying that three weeks before the carnage, masses arrived at the fence but the IDF didn’t take it seriously. She also said that the local people were left to fend for themselves.

Speaking to reporters outside Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital where she is being treated, Lifshitz said, "I didn't think we would reach this situation. They went wild. They blew up the fence we built for two-and-a-half billion dollars. They attacked our houses. They killed and kidnapped both old and young with no distinction. I went through a nightmare we couldn't have imagined.”

She added, “I constantly have the images of what happened repeating in my mind. When they took me, they put me on a motorcycle, tied with legs on one side and my head on the other, and I lay there while they raced through the fields. There was a motorcycle on either side of us and one behind us.”

Lifshitz added that she was beaten up brutally by the motorcycle rider with a wooden pole.

She said, "They stole my watch and jewellery while I was on the motorcycle. First, they held me in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, which is close to [Kibbutz] Be’eri. After that, I don’t know where I was taken. Eventually, we went underground and walked for kilometres through wet tunnels, for two-three hours in a spider web of tunnels. We went through the tunnels until we reached a large hall. We were a group of 25 people, and they separated us according to which Kibbutz we were from."

The elderly woman said that there were five from Kibbutz Nir Oz, adding that there was one guard for each of them. 

She said, "They spoke to us and ate with us. They said they didn't want to talk about politics of what had happened. A doctor arrived and examined us every other day. They brought us the medications we needed. If they didn't have them, they brought parallel medications. They took good care of the wounded.”

She said there was a person who suffered injuries in his hands and legs when they brought him on the motorcycle, adding that it was heartbreaking to see that. 

She also said that the captors were very concerned with hygiene and were worried about an outbreak of something. 

Lifshitz added that there were toilets which they cleaned every day.