Freed Israeli hostage: They took care of us and treated us humanely

After being released by the Palestinian resistance last night, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz told the press today that hostages were being treated humanely and being taken care of.

Speaking of the day she was taken from her home near the Gaza fence, Lifshitz said she was “taken through ploughed fields” on a motorcycle before entering a “spiderweb” of underground tunnels.

Lifshitz added: “They seemed really prepared for it. They had concealed it for a long time, and they took care of all the needs that people need, [such as] shampoo and conditioner.”

“They gave us pitta bread, hard cheese, some low-fat cream cheese and cucumber and that was our food for the entire day,” she added. She described the humane treatment they’d received while being held as prisoners of war. Lifshitz’s daughter, Sharone, translated her mother’s comments and said: “My mum is saying they [the Palestinian resistance] were very friendly towards them. They took care of them.”

“They were given medicine. They were treated. One of the men with them was badly injured from a motorbike accident on the way.”

“One of the paramedics gave him medicine and antibiotics.”

“The people were friendly and they kept the place very clean.”

“My mum is saying they were very delicate and caring with them, and took care of all their needs.”

She added that Israel had not taken the threat of a possible offensive by the Palestinian resistance seriously, but the resistance had been prepared for one.

The 85-year-old is one of four hostages who have been released on humanitarian grounds by the resistance, she was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) last night before being transported to Egypt then back to Israel.

In video footage of her release she could be seen stopping to turn back to shake hands with the member of the resistance who had accompanied her and bidding him goodbye by saying “Shalom”.

Israel says more than 200 people are being held as prisoners of war by the resistance in Gaza. The former head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, Khaled Meshaal, said yesterday that at least 22 had been killed in Israel’s relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip.