After being released by Hamas, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz , who was a resident of a village in southern Israel, gave a statement at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.
" I've been through hell that we never thought we'd get here," Lifshitz said of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. They came to our village and took me hostage. They put me on a motorcycle and sped off ," said Lifshitz.
She said her captors had beaten her with sticks during the trip, breaking one of her ribs, adding that she had breathing problems and that all her jewelry was in the hands of Hamas, reports
"They blew up the fence that cost 2.5 billion dollars. They beat people and took some hostages. They did not differentiate between young and old, it was very painful. They brought us to the entrance of the tunnels. We reached the tunnel and walked kilometers. There is a giant system of tunnels, which are like spider webs," said Lifshitz.
Lifshitz said the Hamas militias had told the hostages that they were believers in the Koran and that they would not harm them. She said that there were 25 people and 5 of them were separated to one side, which they guarded carefully.
"When we got there, they told us that they are believers of the Koran, that they will not harm us and we will enjoy the same living conditions as those in the tunnels. We started walking through the tunnels, and we reached a hall with 25 people in it, after 2-3 hours they separated five of the people from my Nir Oz kibbutz. They guarded us closely," said Lifshitz.
She also said that they brought a doctor who gave them medical treatment and medicine for those who needed it. According to her statement, the hostages were treated well and the captors were friendly.
"We laid down on mattresses, they made sure everything was clean. They made sure we didn't get sick and we had a doctor with us every two or three days," Lifshitz said.
She said one of the hostages who had fallen off a motorcycle and injured his arms and legs received medical attention. Lifshitz said that " there were five of us and each of us had someone to guard them".
"The doctor visited him every day and cleaned him for an hour and a half, the doctor sent him antibiotics, after four or five days he was still not better, so the doctor changed the antibiotics. Then it started to get better. There were five of us and each of us had someone to look after them. They treated us well, took care of all the details... feminine hygiene. They cleaned our toilets, they cleaned us! They cleaned with Lysol so we don't get any disease, they were afraid of the plague," Lifshitz said.
When asked about Hamas' talks with the hostages, Lifshitz replied, "We told them no politics. But they talked about all kinds of things. They were very friendly with us. They divided us into groups according to residence, took care of all our needs. To their credit, they kept us very clean. "They made sure we ate, we ate the same food they did, bread with white cheese and cucumber," Lifshitz said.
Regarding the October 7 surprise attack, Lifshitz said residents in her village were "harmed" by the lack of knowledge of the IDF and Shin Bet.
"We were the government's scapegoats. We were abandoned by the government three weeks ago. Hamas schooled us, so to speak. The IDF did nothing. Suddenly on Saturday morning, when everything was quiet, they bombed us, then they they knocked down the fence, entered the village, it was very unpleasant," said Lifshitz.
When asked about the footage of her release, in which she is seen shaking hands with one of her Hamas captors, Lifshitz said:
"They treated us with their human gentleness and took care of us. They were ready for it. They had everything that women and men would need, even shampoo and conditioner."
Earlier, hospital manager Ronni Gamzu said Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper, 79, who was also released at the same time, would be under the care of doctors and remain in the hospital, Israeli newspaper Hareetz reported.
" In the next day or two one of the hostages may be released from the hospital and one of them will stay to complete medical treatment. We are taking care of their mental and medical condition, all this is done by having contact with their family members ", said Gamzu.