Hamas hostage victim recount ordeals inside tunnel system

An Israeli hostage released by Hamas has described her ordeal after she was kidnapped by gunmen and taken into a tunnel system in Gaza during the Palestinian militant group’s deadly assault in Israel on October 7.

Yocheved Lifshitz, a frail 85-year-old grandmother who was one of two hostages released by Hamas on Monday, recounted the moment that militants snatched her from her home in the kibbutz of Nir Oz and drove her away on a motorbike towards Gaza, a “painful act” during which she said she was beaten and sustained bruises.

Lifshitz said she was forced to walk on wet ground and descended into an underground tunnel system she likened to a spiderweb, where she was greeted by “people who told us we believe in the Quran” and promised “not to harm” her and her fellow hostages.

Lifshitz’s daughter Sharone, who helped convey her mother’s comments to reporters outside a hospital in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, called it a “huge network” of tunnels.

Lifshitz said she was initially grouped together with 25 other people before her captors separated her into a smaller group with four other individuals from her kibbutz. She said they slept on mattresses on the floor of the tunnels, ate the same food as Hamas fighters and received regular treatment from doctors during her incarceration.

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“They really took care of the sanitary side of things so that we didn’t get sick,” Lifshitz added.

Each of the five hostages in her group received their own doctor and there was a paramedic present who supervised medication, she said.

“They were very generous to us, very kind. They kept us clean,” Lifshitz said. “They took care of every detail. There are a lot of women and they know about feminine hygiene and they took care of everything there.”

Lifshitz also accused the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet intelligence service of not taking threats from Hamas “seriously” and said the costly Gaza border fence erected by Israel had done nothing to protect her community from Hamas’ attack.

“The lack of awareness by Shin Bet and the IDF hurt us a lot,” she stressed. “They warned us three weeks beforehand, they burned fields, they sent fire balloons and the IDF did not treat it seriously,” she continued.

Hamas released Lifshitz and her neighbor and friend Nurit Cooper, 79, on Monday, and later they were reunited with family members who rushed to their bedside at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv.

Lifshitz’s grandson Daniel, who heard of her release while staying at a hotel in Eilats with other evacuees from Nir Oz, said Monday that news of the women’s release sent a jolt of joy through the hotel and hope that others may be freed soon.

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More than a quarter of the Nir Oz community are dead or remain missing after October 7 attack, when Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in barbaric raids, according to Israeli authorities.

The attack triggered a retaliatory Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 5,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and threatened to escalate into a wider regional conflict.

The release of the two women takes the total number of captives freed to four, but more than 200 hostages are believed to be trapped in Gaza, some within the labyrinth of Hamas tunnels dug beneath the coastal strip.

“My father is there and so many other people we know are waiting for good news about everyone,” she said. “We don’t know what’s going on with them. Not even know if they’re alive or what their situation is.”

The latest hostage release comes amid growing international pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of hundreds of others still held captive in Gaza.

They include nationals from countries including Mexico, Brazil, the United States, Germany and Thailand as well as Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas in response to the deadly October 7 attacks, and is cutting off Gaza from water, fuel and food as it pounds key targets with airstrikes.