Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday freed two Israeli hostages taken captive during its attack on Israel on October 7.
The two women have been identified as 79-year-old Nurit Cooper and 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz. Their husbands are still being held captive by Hamas, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.
Hamas had abducted Cooper and Lifshitz from their homes in the communal settlement of Nir Oz near the Israel-Gaza border during the attack on October 7, the Israeli prime minister’s office added.
Israel thanked neighbouring Egypt for its assistance and the Red Cross humanitarian organisation for its “important role” in freeing the two elderly hostages.
On October 7, Hamas launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel. In response, Israel declared a siege on Gaza and has been conducting air strikes on the narrow strip of land. It also stopped water, fuel and power supplies to the region’s 2.3 million residents. The Israeli forces have gathered around Gaza over the past week and are preparing for a full-scale ground offensive into Gaza to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure.
More than 5,000 persons have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past two weeks, the United Nations said. Israel said on October 20 that 1,400 persons died in attacks on the country from Gaza.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Lifshitz said that her captors assaulted her initially but then began treating her well in Gaza, reported Al Jazeera. The Hamas captors took Lifshitz to Gaza on a motorbike on October 7.
“As we rode, the motorcycle rider hit me with a wooden pole,” she told reporters. “They didn’t break my ribs, but it hurt me a lot in that area, making it difficult to breathe. They stole my watch and jewellery.”
However, once she was in Gaza the captors treated her well and gave her and other captives the same food they ate and brought a doctor to provide medicine.
She also claimed thata Israeli security forces ignroed evidence of Palestinian militant group planning an offensive, reported The Guardian. “Three weeks ago, masses arrived at the fence,” she said. “The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] did not take it seriously. We were left to fend for ourselves.”
On Friday, American-Israeli mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, were released by Hamas on “humanitarian grounds”. They were the first hostages to be freed.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Hamas had taken 222 hostages.
On Sunday, The New York Times reported quoting unidentified United States officials that the Joe Biden administration has advised Israel to delay the ground invasion of Gaza to buy time for hostage negotiations and to allow more humanitarian aid to reach the region.
This came a day after the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened to allow some aid into the besieged region for the first time since Israel laid a siege on the territory on October 9.
However, the continuous airstrikes in Gaza Strip killed more than 700 persons since Monday as medical facilities closed down, reported the Associated Press. Israel said on Tuesday that it had launched 400 airstrikes in the last 24 hours. The attacks have killed Hamas commanders, hit militants who were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striked command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft, the country said.
Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that attacks over the past day have killed at least 704 people, including 305 children and 173 women, reported AP.
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