‘They treated us very nicely’, freed hostage recounts experience
… As one Palestinian prisoner dies in Israel’s jail, others subjected to severe abuse, beatings
Two women held captive by Hamas in the besieged Gaza strip in Palestine have been released, according to the Palestinian group and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
A spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas said the two captives were released following mediation from Qatar and Egypt.
In a statement on Monday, spokesperson Abu Obeida said on the group’s Telegram channel that the captives had been released for “humanitarian reasons and poor health grounds.”
The release of the two hostages, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, was confirmed by the ICRC.
“We hope they will soon be back with their loved ones,” it said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Hamas treated us very nicely,” an elderly hostage told in a press conference!
“Hamas told us they believe in the Quran and wouldn’t harm us. Each person had a guard watching him or her. They took care of all the needs. They talked about all kinds of things, they were very friendly,” an elderly Israeli woman released from Hamas captivity told!
“They said they believed in the Quran and they wouldn’t hurt us.”
85-year-old Israeli hostage Yocheved Lifshitz spoke after being freed by Hamas pic.twitter.com/wZgeC4OztX
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 24, 2023
“They gave us pitta bread, hard cheese, some low fat cream cheese, and cucumber and that was our food for the entire day,” Freed Hamas hostage Yocheved Lifshitz recounts her experience saying “there were people there who took care of all the needs.”
When asked what she meant by the gesture of shaking a Hamas gunman’s hand, freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, says ‘because they treated us very nicely’.
"They gave us pitta bread, hard cheese, some low fat cream cheese, and cucumber and that was our food for the entire day."
Freed #Hamas hostage Yocheved Lifshitz recounts her experience saying "there were people there who took care of all the needs."
She says: "They shared… pic.twitter.com/tKzfLYmdcS
— Islam And Life (@IslamAndLifeOFC) October 25, 2023
But, in Israel, Palestinian administrative detainee, Omar Hamza Hassan Daraghmeh, has died in Megiddo Prison on Monday night in mysterious circumstances, the Palestinian Information Centre reported.
The Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a joint statement that the Israeli occupation arrested 58-year-old Daraghmeh, along with his son Hamza, on 9 October, and placed them under administrative detention – without charge or trial – for six months.
The statement pointed out that a court session was held for Daraghmeh earlier today via video conference in the Ofer Military Court, in presence of his lawyer, Ashraf Abu Sneineh, who asked him about his health and he replied that he was in good health.
The statement stressed that the Israeli narrative about the circumstances of his death was and will remain questionable.
The joint statement held the occupation fully responsible for the crime, which first began with Daraghmeh’s administrative arrest without charge, under the pretext of a “secret file.”
Several detainees who have recently been detained confirmed that they were subjected to severe abuse and beatings. Political experts have said the increase in Israel’s arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank is an effort to ensure it has a large pool of Palestinians should a prisoner swap deal be made with Palestinian resistance in Gaza who are currently holding more than 200 Israeli prisoners of war.
Recall that Hamas seized more than 200 people, including Israelis and dual nationals, during an assault on southern Israel on October 7. The Palestinian group killed more than 1,400 people, many of them civilians, during the attack, according to Israeli authorities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza. Human rights groups, international organisations and families of those held captive have also called for their immediate release.
The first hostage release since the October 7 attack took place on Friday, with Hamas freeing two women with United States citizenship, Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, following mediation efforts by Qatar.
A Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson said that the release came “after many days of continuous communication” with all involved parties.
Obeida had previously stated that Hamas offered to free two additional captives alongside Judith and Natalie last Friday, but were rebuffed by Israeli authorities.
Israel has called that claim “mendacious propaganda” and suggested that Hamas is seeking to improve its image as harrowing stories of Hamas gunmen killing Israeli civilians, some using gruesome methods, are met with strong condemnation around the world.
With the Israeli military preparing for an expected ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip, the families of those kidnapped and taken captive have been confronted with painful dilemmas, with some urging the Israeli government to prioritise freeing hostages while others say they understand the emphasis on attacking Hamas.
“We need to talk to Hamas. We can’t always resort to war. We have so many Palestinian prisoners we can swap for our people,” Carmel Gorni, a political activist whose cousin Yiftah Gorni was killed in the assault, told the news outlet Reuters.
“If our soldiers go in, many people will die, including the hostages.”
According to a report in the New York Times, the US is pressing Israel to delay a ground assault in order to allow for more time to secure the release of those held captive.
Israel’s playbook:
1) Commit an unthinkable atrocity like bombing a HOSPITAL killing over 500 civilians.
2) Immediately deny it.
Remember the IDF killed US journalist Shireen Abu Akleh & denied it for MONTHS, then after the newscycle moved on, admitted it shot her in the head.…
— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman504) October 18, 2023
Israel has been accused of showing disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians in its response to the attack by Hamas, cutting off access to food, water, fuel, and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents as it carries out a relentless campaign of air strikes that have levelled entire neighbourhoods and brought humanitarian conditions to a breaking point.
More than 5,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment, according to Palestinian authorities.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera, Middle East Monitor
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