Hostages maintain kibbutz-like community in captivity, says Israeli correspondent

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Hamas took care of the Israeli prisoners of war while they were held in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military correspondent Alon Ben David has said.

Ben David, who works as a military correspondent for Israel’s Channel 13, said: “I spoke to them and they all repeated the same story: Hamas men took care of them, fed them and tried to provide them with their medications.”

He also said that Hamas members “kept them together with members of their Kibbutzim, they organised lectures, interacted together, and even watched YouTube.”

He added: “Yocheved Lifshitz was not lying.”

Lifshitz was an Israeli captive who was released by Hamas on humanitarian grounds before the truce. She was subjected to a violent attack by the Israeli extreme right after she said in a press conference after her release that Hamas members “treated me well… They made sure to bring a doctor who examined me, spoke to me gently, and prescribed me medication that they brought and made sure I took it on time. The doctor visited me once every three days. They were very polite and met all my requests. Then they surprised me by releasing me.”

Yesterday, Hamas and Israel implemented the third phase of the prisoner exchange agreement as part of the temporary ceasefire, whereby 39 Palestinian detainees were released daily for a period of four days, in exchange for 13 Israelis held by Hamas.

A source close to the Hamas movement confirmed yesterday that the Palestinian resistance had agreed to extend the truce, which comes to an end on Tuesday morning, from two to four days, while securing the release of between 20-40 Israeli prisoners of war.

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