Former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz has revealed previously unknown details behind her warm interaction with a Hamas militant during her Red Cross handover in Gaza after 16 days in captivity.
In a video of the handover, the then 85-year-old was seen turning back to the masked Hamas militant who had escorted her to the checkpoint, shaking hands with him, and saying “Shalom”.
The encounter, which caused headlines around the world, confounded many. However, last night, in conversation with Senior Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg and her daughter Sharone at New North London Synagogue, Yocheved shone a new light on the situation.
Translating on behalf of her mother, Sharone explained: “The person she shook hands with was a paramedic, and on the way to the point where she was passed to the Red Cross they had a conversation in which he said that it’s time to throw away the politicians and to reach an agreement.”
Yocheved and her husband Oded were kidnapped into Gaza on the morning of October 7. Yocheved was released on October 23 alongside fellow Nir Oz resident, Nurit Cooper – however her husband Oded, who was shot in the hand on October 7, died in captivity, his body only released for burial in February this year.
Founding members of Kibbutz Nir Oz, both Yocheved and Oded had dedicated much of their lives to building peace with their Palestinian neighbours, regularly driving sick Palestinians from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israel.
In a press conference held just days after her release, Yocheved said: “I went through hell,” later explaining how she and fellow hostages were taken into "a huge network of tunnels underneath Gaza that looked like a spider's web."
Speaking a few days after her release, Yocheved’s daughter Sharone – who lives in London with her family – said: "The way she walked off and then came back and then said thank you was quite incredible to me. It's so her."
