Freed Israeli says beaten by abductors then well treated in Gaza

Tel Aviv – An Israeli 85-year-old freed by Palestinian militant group Hamas said Tuesday she was beaten during her abduction, then treated well during more than two weeks held captive in Gaza.

“The guys beat me on the way, they didn’t break my ribs but hurt me there very much,” Yocheved Lifshitz said a day after her release.

“They treated us well,” she told media at a Tel Aviv hospital, explaining a doctor visited her and fellow hostages every two to three days and provided medicines.

Lifshitz was a resident of Nir Oz kibbutz, one of the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip which Hamas militants attacked on October 7.

Her husband, also in his 80s, is among more than 200 hostages still being held in Gaza.

“They treated us gently, and provided all our needs,” she said, when asked why she reached out to shake the hand of a militant the moment she was freed.

Lifshitz described her captives as “very friendly” and “very courteous” people who had organised well in advance for taking hostages.

“They seemed ready for this, they prepared for a long time, they had everything that men and women needed, including shampoo,” she told journalists.

“We ate the same food they did — pitas with cream cheese, melted cheese, cucumbers. That was a meal for an entire day,” said Lifshitz.

The octogenarian was released alongside fellow Nir Oz resident Nurit Cooper, 79, three days after an American woman and her daughter were freed.