Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Hamas has reportedly freed several Israeli hostages. Those who were taken hostage also gave testimony while under the control of the Palestinian group.
An elderly Israeli hostage freed by Hamas overnight said he was beaten by Hamas members as he was taken to Gaza on October 7. However, he was then treated well during the two weeks he was held hostage in the Palestinian enclave.
Yocheved Lifshitz (85) and Nurit Cooper (79) were the two women who were released on Monday (23/10/2023) evening. They are among around 220 hostages still in the hands of Hamas.
The two women were taken out of Gaza via the Rafah crossing into Egypt, where they were put into ambulances.
The two women and their husbands were kidnapped from their home in kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border during a Hamas attack on the southern Israeli community on October 7. Their husbands, aged 83 and 84, were not released.
Footage circulating showed Lifshitz shaking hands with one of his Hamas captors and saying “shalom”, a Hebrew greeting meaning “peace”, after being released back to his family.
“I have been through difficult times, we did not think or know that we would experience this situation,” he told reporters, sitting in a wheelchair outside the Tel Aviv hospital where he was taken after his release, as quoted Reuters.
Looking weak, Lifshitz said he was put on a motorbike and taken from his kibbutz to nearby Gaza.
“When I was on the bike, my head was on one side and my whole body on the other. The youths hit me in the middle of the road. They didn’t break my ribs but it hurt and I was having difficulty breathing,” he admitted.
Upon arrival in Gaza, he said his captors took him into a tunnel and treated him well.
Lifshitz said a doctor had visited him and made sure he and the other hostages received the same medicines they took in Israel.
He said the Israeli military was not taking the Hamas threat seriously enough, and that an expensive security fence meant to keep militants out “wasn’t helping at all.”
Meanwhile, reports The Guardian said Hamas apparently received nothing in return for the release of the hostages, who were freed days after an American woman and her teenage daughter were also freed. Hamas and other militants in Gaza are believed to have kidnapped around 220 people, including a number of foreigners and dual citizens.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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Originally posted 2023-10-24 13:20:00.