An elderly Israeli prisoner freed by Hamas tonight stated that the militants had beaten her when she was kidnapped and transferred to Gaza on October 7 but that she was treated properly throughout her two-week imprisonment in the Palestinian enclave. The incident occurred when she was abducted and taken to Gaza on October 7.

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was one of two women liberated late on Monday night. Around 220 hostages, including their husbands, are still held captive by Hamas. Yocheved was one of the two ladies who were freed.

Lifshitz told the media outside the Tel Aviv hospital, where she was transported after her discharge, “I’ve been through hell,” while she spoke in a barely audible whisper while seated in a wheelchair.

Lifshitz, who appeared weak, stated that gunmen had stormed into her kibbutz, Nir Oz, catching the community members by surprise.

“They violently broke into our homes. They assaulted other people. “They kidnapped others, making no distinction between the elderly and the younger people,” she added.

The Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on October 7 that it is likely that one-third of Nir Oz’s 400 residents were either kidnapped or slain on October 7. There has been no formal release of data.

Lifshitz was forced onto a motorcycle and taken into the neighboring territory of Gaza. While riding the bike, the rest of my body was on one side, and my legs were on the opposite side. The young males struck me as I was walking. Even though they didn’t shatter my ribs, the experience was excruciating, and I had trouble breathing.

She said her watch and jewelry were taken while riding in the car. Several captives were taken inside Gaza and led into what Lifshitz called a “spider’s web” of tunnels that Hamas had constructed underneath the coastal region. They held a group of five individuals from her kibbutz together, and each had a unique guard who stayed with them around the clock. Lifshitz said a physician saw them every other day and carried the necessary medications with him.

Lifshitz said that the injured were treated with compassion by those responsible. On Monday, she was freed, and video of the event showed her turning around to shake hands with a person wearing a mask. When asked why she had done that, she explained that “they treated us gently and met all of our needs.”

Her grandson told Reuters on Monday that Lifshitz was a peace activist and that she used to help injured Palestinians in Gaza obtain medical care in Israel by meeting them at the main border crossing and taking them to hospitals in Israel. This was something that she did for many years.

On Tuesday, Lifshitz criticized the Israeli military for failing to safeguard southern villages from an attack by Hamas. He said that the Israeli army had not taken the possibility of an attack seriously and had thus failed to protect the neighborhoods.

“We were left to fend for ourselves,” was what she had to say about the situation. She also stated that a pricey security barrier that was supposed to keep jihadists out “didn’t help at all.”