"I went through hell, I was beaten": Gaza Captive Recalls Experience

Yocheved Lifshitz, who was freed last night (Tuesday) from Hamas captivity, told her terrifying story of being kidnapped to Gaza at Ichilov Hospital: “I went through hell, we didn’t think and we didn’t know we’d get to this situation. They ran rampant in our kibbutz, I was kidnapped and put on a motorcycle on the side and they ran with me in the ploughed fields, they led me like a sack of potatoes,” she said.

Lifshitz continued: “They blew up the electronic fence which didn’t help at all. They stormed our homes. They beat people, some they kidnapped, there was no difference whether they were elderly or young. IT was a painful process. They brought us to the opening of tunnels, I lay on my side, and they beat me, which made breathing very hard for me.”

"They separated five people from Nir Oz and put them separately”

The released captive described her time in captivity in Gaza. “When we came there, they told us they believe in the Koran and will give us the same conditions in the tunnels. We started to walk in the tunnels and arrived at a large hall where 25 people were concentrated. After two hours, they separated five from Kibbutz Nir Oz and placed them in a room separately.”

According to her: “They kept close to us with their Guard with a medic. A doctor came who took care to send us more or less the same medicine. We slept there on mattresses. They were very careful about the sanitary issue that we not bother them, a doctor came every two days to check. The medic took the responsibility upon himself and saw to bringing medicines, and if they were not there, they brought substitute medicines.”

She ended by saying: “Our treatment was good, they took care of all the details. They cleaned the bathrooms, used Lysol to sterilize. They were afraid of disease. We told them we don’t want to get into politics with them.”