Eighty-five year-old Yocheved Lifschitz spoke of a “hell that we never knew before and never thought we would experience” as she described the harrowing assault on her kibbutz by Hamas militants and the terror of being taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.
“We were the scapegoat of the government,” she said. “They (Hamas) warned us three weeks before they taught us a lesson. A huge crowd arrived at the road. They burned fields. They sent incendiary balloons to burn the fields, and the army didn’t take it seriously.”
That seems like an important part of this article. Not to say* what they did wasn’t horrific, but seems like something.
Yes the idea that the Israeli govt had no idea the attack was coming makes no sense if this warning happened 3 weeks before the attack.
I don’t have a great perspective on Israel and Hamas but all reports seem to be converging on the point that Bibi failed Israel and may have also deliberately fucked over Gaza.
That and Egypt also warned Israel that an attack was coming some time before too
This gives me hope that the other hostages are still alive:
Lifshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same.
Lifshitz and her husband were peace activists who regularly drove Palestinian patients from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
Holy crap.
Lifshitz and her husband were peace activists who regularly drove Palestinian patients from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
It’s often good, honest people that suffer most when feckless leaders perpetuate conflict. I’m glad she was able to make it out alive.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
JERUSALEM (AP) — Eighty-five-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz spoke of a “hell that we never knew before and never thought we would experience” as she described the harrowing Oct. 7 assault on her kibbutz by Hamas militants and the terror of being taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.
“Masses swarmed our houses, beat people, and some were taken hostage,” said Lifshitz, speaking softly from a wheelchair as she briefed reporters on Tuesday at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, a day after Hamas released her and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper.
Lifshitz, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was among the more than 200 Israelis and foreigners seized after heavily armed Hamas militants broke through Israel’s multibillion-dollar electric border fence and fanned across southern Israel, overrunning nearly two dozen communities, military bases and a desert rave.
Lifshitz’s captors hustled her onto a motorcycle, removed her watch and jewelry and beat her with sticks, bruising her ribs and making it difficult to breathe, she said.
Once in Gaza, she walked several kilometers to a network of tunnels that she described as “looking like a spider web.” She reached a large room where 25 people had been taken but was later separated into a smaller group with four others.
Lifshitz and her husband were peace activists who regularly drove Palestinian patients from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
The original article contains 490 words, the summary contains 222 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
