The 85-year-old held her hostage in Gaza and said she went through hell
Hamas in Gaza Says She ‘Went Through Hell’: Judith and Natalie R. Raanan, an 85-Year-Old Hostage in Gaza
The 85-year-old woman, who was freed after being held hostage in Gaza for 17 days, said on Tuesday that she had been beaten and taken away on a motorcycle.
Hamas has released four hostages, including Judith and Natalie Raanan, American-Israeli citizens who were freed last week. Ms. Lifshitz is the first released hostage to speak publicly about her ordeal.
The day after her release, she was sitting in a wheelchair in a hospital in Tel Aviv with a bunch of microphones.
She and Cooper were freed on Monday and transported from Hamas to Israel via the International Committee for the Red Cross and Egypt. Both of their husbands are still being held hostage in Gaza.
In her account of the tunnels, she offered a snapshot of the challenges facing Israel as it ponders how to eradicate Hamas in the Gaza area after the devastating October 7 attack against Israel.
Hamas has built a labyrinth of underground passages in Gaza for its fighters, military analysts said, complicating both Israel’s anticipated ground operation and any attempt to rescue the hostages.
Source: 85-Year-Old Held Hostage in Gaza Says She ‘Went Through Hell’
The Israeli border communities of Gaza had been attacked by Hamas in the last few months, Ms. Lifshitz told AFP
Ms. Lifshitz said many people had invaded their homes, beating people, and abducting them. “It made no difference, they abducted the elderly and the young.”
She said her kidnappers hauled her onto a motorcycle and beat her painfully in the ribs, making it hard for her to breathe, and also took away her watch. They drove through the fields around Nir Oz.
She said that they took her through the tunnels to the large hall, which was filled with 25 people. She said that after two to three hours, they separated the five people from her kibbutz into their own room, where they were monitored by guards.
Ms. Lifshitz said that they had the same food and medicine as their abductors, but they were well taken care of. Fearing disease, her abductors went to work to make the area free of disease, she said. She said that they treated them well and made them feel good.
The border communities of Israel were attacked by Hamas. Israel had fought short battles with the Palestinians in Gaza, but they were not quite as violent as the assaults of the last few years.
Ms. Lifshitz at times criticized the Israeli military, saying that it and the Shin Bet domestic security service had ignored warning signs of the threat to towns near Gaza. The military acknowledged that it did not live up to its mission after the attack.
Weeks before the assault, Palestinians had rioted and fired explosive balloons near the Gaza border fence, sparking fires in southern Israel, Ms. Lifshitz said.
Israeli survivors find solace in a hotel in the aftermath of the Sept. 7 attack on a Gaza Strip neighborhood kibbutz
Families are relaxing on the lawn. Kids are playing basketball. Dogs are taken on walks through the hotel lobby past a handwritten roster of funerals that keeps getting longer.
The displaced residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza are pictured. In the devastating attacks on Oct. 7, it was one of the hardest hit communities along the Gaza border.
The survivors of kibbutz Kfar Aza have left and are staying at the hotel on another kibbutz in north Tel Aviv, wondering what’s next.
The Geologist sits on a lawn chair in the courtyard. The 41-year-old and his two young daughters were home when the ambush began. His gun jammed when he left to get it from where he was storing it.
Israeli survivors find solace in a hotel in the Hamas attack at home: Elisha, the son of a terrorist, and Eliabeth Schwartzman
I was shocked, he’s dead. His entire family is dead. I was certain that they were murdered in cold blood. Then I heard them moving to the next house, and to the next house,” he says.
Soldiers rescued Elisha 30 hours later, but the scene he emerged to was devastating. There were huge holes in the homes. The buildings that were identified as targets were left behind by the attackers. These are some of the things that bother the survivors.
Schwartzman said they thought it was safe when they moved there. “Yeah, there was constant bombing and everything, but we never thought that dozens or even hundreds of terrorists will infiltrate the kibbutz and will start slaughtering entire families in their home, in their beds.”
The parents of Schwartzman’s wife died in the attack, but they were 500 feet away from Schwartzman’s home.
Source: Attacked by Hamas at home, Israeli survivors find solace in a hotel
Israeli survivors find solace in a hotel after shiva, in recalled Holocaust scenes from a tragedy of the kibbutz
Shiva, the Jewish ritual of mourning at home, can’t be done at home. Their home is now uninhabitable. Shiva after shiva is being held in the lobby of a bank on the hotel grounds.
Aviv died while working as a stage manager for popular artists, and his father, Ofer, is surrounded by dozens of his family and friends at his shiva.
A volunteer therapist is in the office of the bank. A man from the kibbutz who did not know where his father’s body was was treated by her.
He was imagining his body in a bag with other bodies. Shmuel says that it brought to mind scenes from the Holocaust. “It was so terrible, like Auschwitz, just a very bad image.”
Shmuel, who is 48, specializes in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a type of therapy that uses eye movements, knee tapping and guided imagery to overcome trauma.
“He said, ‘Dad, goodbye. I love you,'” says Shmuel. “And he could see his dad and just give him a hug, and say goodbye to him in a normal and dignified way. He got peace after that.
Source: Attacked by Hamas at home, Israeli survivors find solace in a hotel
A human spirit of strength and compassion for the wounded at the Shefayim Hotel — a quote from Sgrt. B. Schwartzman
The other attack survivors at the Shefayim Hotel find peace in being part of their community and being supported by those who are giving their time.
Schwartzman says that the human spirit is strong. “You can see the civilians that are looking out for you.”
