Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same. The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Lifshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. Upon her release, Lipschitz said she had been held in tunnels which stretched under Gaza “like a spider web.” She said her captors “told us they are people who believe in the Quran and wouldn’t hurt us.” The fullest image yet of life under Hamas captivity was conjured by 85-year-old Yocheved Lipschitz, a hostage who was freed before the current cease-fire. Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas. Under the current four-day cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummelled enclave.Įighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released.Īlso Read: Who are the 13 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Day 1 of Gaza ceasefire?Įleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip. In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. “She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. “For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes,” said Adar. Still, her release was bittersweet: She also found out that her house had been ravaged by militants. APĪdar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. “She came back and she said, ‘I know that I’ve been there for 50 days.'” Ruth Munder, a released Israeli hostage, walks with an Israeli soldier shortly after her arrival in Israel. “She counted the days of her captivity,” Adar said. They said they sometimes had to wait hours before going to the bathroom.Īdva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight. Raviv said she’d heard from her freed family members that they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room that looked like a reception area. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, had each lost around seven kilograms (15 pounds) in just 50 days. Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and had eaten mainly rice and bread. Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones’ experiences.
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