Israel-Gaza war: Freed hostage says Hamas were ‘prepared’ for kidnappings and IDF did not take warnings ‘seriously’
Hamas were “really prepared” for kidnapping Israeli citizens and holding them captive, a hostage freed by the militants had told the press in Tel Aviv.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, said “each person [hostage] had a guard watching him or her” after they were taken down into a network of tunnels under Gaza that looked like a “spiderweb”.
She said Hamas’s surprise incursion on 7 October, where she was kidnapped along with more than 200 others, happened after Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) failed to take warnings from the militant group seriously.
Israel-Gaza war – latest updates
Seated in a wheelchair, a frail-looking Mrs Lifshitz said Hamas treated her and the other hostages “gently” and had secret provisions for looking after them.
She said a doctor visited her and made sure she and other hostages received the same sort of medicines they had
been taking in Israel.
Mrs Lifshitz added: “They seemed really prepared for it. They had concealed it for a long time, and they took care of all the needs that people need, [such as] shampoo and conditioner.”
“They gave us pitta bread, hard cheese, some low-fat cream cheese and cucumber and that was our food for the entire day,” she added.
‘It was painful’
Mrs Liftshitz, who was taken from her home in Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, told how she was taken away by motorbike with her head on one side of the vehicle and her legs on the other.
She added that she was “taken through ploughed fields” and hit by Hamas fighters with sticks during the kidnapping.
“They didn’t break my ribs but it was painful and I had difficulty breathing,” Mrs Lifshitz said.
She added that she had to walk a “few kilometres” with one militant in front of her and another behind until she reached the tunnels.
Yocheved Lifshitz at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre after she was released by Hamas. Pic: AP
Sharone Lifshitz, who lives in London, flew out to Tel Aviv and was by her mother’s side, translating parts of her description from Hebrew into English as she spoke to the press this morning.
Sharone spoke about the humane treatment her mother says she received during her captivity after the violent kidnapping.
The freed hostage’s daughter told journalists: “My mum is saying they [Hamas] were very friendly towards them. They took care of them.
“They were given medicine. They were treated. One of the men with them was badly injured from a motorbike accident on the way.
“One of the paramedics gave him medicine and antibiotics.
“The people were friendly and they kept the place very clean.
“My mum is saying they were very delicate and caring with them, and took care of all their needs.”
She had earlier confirmed her mother was released on Monday evening.
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Hamas release video of hostages before being freed
Mrs Lifshitz later added the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) did not take the warnings of a possible Hamas incursion seriously before it happened.
She said Hamas had burnt fields and launched heavy shelling before its militants crossed the Israel-Gaza border.
Mrs Lifshitz also said the costly security fence meant to keep militants out “didn’t help at all”.
Hamas said it released Mrs Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper, 79, on humanitarian and “poor health grounds” but their husbands are still being held prisoner.
The two women and their husbands – aged 83 and 84 – were snatched from their homes as Hamas began its massacre on 7 October.
Earlier this week, the group released images of masked gunmen giving the women food and drink and leading them to the handover point, where Red Cross workers met them.
Yocheved Lifshitz at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre
Only four of those kidnapped during the Hamas attack have so far been freed – the other two being a US mother and daughter last week.
With many hostages still held prisoner, the US is understood to have asked Israel to delay its ground invasion so more can be freed.
The British Foreign Office welcomed the release of the women and vowed to “continue to work tirelessly” on securing the release of more.
A spokeswoman said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of loved ones still being held captive, as they endure unimaginable anguish and worry at this time.
“We will continue to work tirelessly with Qatar, Israel and others to ensure all hostages come home safely.”
Yocheved Lifshitz, left, and Nurit Cooper. Pic: AP
A senior Hamas leader earlier told Sky News all civilians among the hostages would be released if Israel reduced the intensity of bombing Gaza.
“We want to stop the random bombardments, the total destruction, the genocide so that the al Qassam soldiers can take them from their places and hand them to the Red Cross or whoever,” said Khaled Meshaal.
“We need the right conditions to allow them to be released,” he claimed.
More than 5,000 Palestinians have now been killed and 15,000 wounded in Israeli airstrikes, Gaza’s health ministry says.
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Hostages can be freed ‘under right conditions’
Israel is preparing for an expected ground invasion, with tanks and thousands of troops waiting for days for the order to attack – a move that’s likely to significantly increase casualties on both sides.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Monday “it will come” and to keep preparing.
He said the attack would be from land, air and sea but gave no timeframe.
Around 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the 7 October Hamas incursion, according to Israeli sources.
World
Body pulled from mine after police cut off supplies to ‘smoke out’ thousands of illegal miners
A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.
The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa’s government said it would not help the illegal miners.
Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.
It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them [the miners] out”.
The move is part of the police’s “Close the Hole” operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out.
Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the mine around two months ago, with relatives of the miners seen in the area as the stand-off continues.
Relatives of miners and community members wait at the mine shaft. Pic: AP
A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.
It comes after South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners, known in the country as zama zamas, because they are involved in a criminal act.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ms Ntshavheni said.
An aerial view of a mineshaft. Pic: AP
Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion”, according to a media advisory from the police.
In the last few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in South Africa’s North West province, where police have cut off supplies.
Many of the miners were reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.
Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.
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Relatives of miners and community members wait near the mine shaft. Pic: AP
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The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.
Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.
Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.
World
Ukrainian frontline commander warns: ‘The world is scared of Russia and losing is not only our problem’
In the courtyard of a farmhouse now home to soldiers of the Ukrainian army’s 47th mechanised brigade, I’m introduced to a weary-looking unit by their commander Captain Oleksandr “Sasha” Shyrshyn.
We are about 10km from the border with Russia, and beyond it lies the Kursk region Ukraine invaded in the summer – and where this battalion is now fighting.
The 47th is a crack fighting assault unit.
They’ve been brought to this area from the fierce battles in the country’s eastern Donbas region to bolster Ukrainian forces already here.
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The captain known by his men as ‘Genius’
In the summer, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory, in Kursk
Captain Shyrshyn explains that among the many shortages the military has to deal with, the lack of infantry is becoming a critical problem.
Sasha is just 30 years old, but he is worldly-wise. He used to run an organisation helping children in the country’s east before donning his uniform and going to war.
He is famous in Ukraine and is regarded as one of the country’s top field commanders, who isn’t afraid to express his views on the war and how it’s being waged.
His nom de guerre is ‘Genius’, a nickname given to him by his men.
Captain Sasha Shyrshyn and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay
‘Don’t worry, it’s not a minefield’
Sasha invited me to see one of the American Bradley fighting vehicles his unit uses.
We walk down a muddy lane before he says it’s best to go cross-country.
“We can go that way, don’t worry it’s not a minefield,” he jokes.
He leads us across a muddy field and into a forest where the vehicle is hidden from Russian surveillance drones that try to hunt both American vehicles and commanders.
Sasha shows me a picture of the house they had been staying in only days before – it was now completely destroyed after a missile strike.
Fortunately, neither he, nor any of his men, were there at the time.
“They target commanders,” he says with a smirk.
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‘The world is scared of Russia’
It takes me a moment or two to realise we are only a few steps away from the Bradley, dug in and well hidden beneath the trees.
The disguised American Bradley vehicle hidden in the forest
Sasha tells me the Bradley is the finest vehicle he has ever used.
A vehicle so good, he says, it’s keeping the Ukrainian army going in the face of Russia’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
He explains: “Almost all our work on the battlefield is cooperation infantry with the Bradley. So we use it for evacuations, for moving people from one place to another, as well as for fire-covering.
“This vehicle is very safe and has very good characteristics.”
The American Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukrainian soldiers have found vital in their efforts
Billions of dollars in military aid has been given to Ukraine by the United States, and this vehicle is one of the most valuable assets the US has provided.
Ukraine is running low on men to fight, and the weaponry it has is not enough, especially if it can’t fire long-range missiles into Russia itself – which it is currently not allowed to do.
If President-elect Donald Trump cuts the supply of military aid, the Ukrainians will lose – it’s that simple.
US President-elect Donald Trump has been clear he intends to change his nation’s policy on the war in Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
Sasha says: “We have a lack of weapons, we have a lack of artillery, we have a lack of infantry, and as the world doesn’t care about justice, and they don’t want to finish the war by our win, they are afraid of Russia.
“I’m sorry but they’re scared, they’re scared, and it’s not the right way.”
Like pretty much everyone in Ukraine, Sasha is waiting to see what the US election result will mean for his country.
He is sceptical about a deal with Russia.
“Our enemy only understands the language of power. And you cannot finish the war in 24 hours, or during the year without hard decisions, without a fight, so it’s impossible. It’s just talking without results,” he tells me.
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‘Losing will be not only our problem’
These men expect the fierce battles inside Kursk to intensify in the coming days.
Indeed, alongside the main supply route into Kursk, workers are already building new defensive positions – unfurling miles of razor wire and digging bunkers for the Ukrainian army if it finds itself in retreat.
Barbed wire rolled out in the Sumy region ahead of expected fighting
Tank traps in the Sumy region
Sasha and his men are realistic about support fatigue from the outside world but will keep fighting to the last if they have to.
“I understand this is only our problem, it’s only our issue, and we have to fight this battle, like we have to defend ourselves, it’s our responsibility,” Sasha said.
But he points out everyone should realise just how critical this moment in time is.
“If we look at it widely, we have to understand that us losing will be not only our problem, but it will be for all the world.”
Stuart Ramsay reports from northeastern Ukraine with camera operator Toby Nash, and producers Dominique Van Heerden, Azad Safarov, and Nick Davenport.
A weather warning has been issued for parts of Spain, as the country counts the cost of recent flooding.
The orange warnings are in place for parts of southwestern Spain – the area around Seville down towards Gibraltar.
Up to 8cm (3ins) of rain could fall within 12 hours, but the weekend looks much more settled in the country.
The latest warnings come just two weeks after flash flooding in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 200 people.
Malaga saw 14.2cm (5.6ins) of rainfall on Wednesday – Spain’s highest of the day – most of which fell in six hours.
All train services were halted in Malaga. Some flights have now resumed after the initial disruption.
Pic: Jamie Marchant
Emergency services in the province have moved 3,000 people from homes at risk of flooding close to the Guadalhorce River in the west of the city.
Jamie Marchant, 29, from Caerphilly in South Wales travelled to Malaga last Wednesday.
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He told Sky News that “debris” had been left behind by the recent rainfall in the region.
“Everyone is pitching in to clean up and some shops are opening as usual,” he added.
Orange warnings for the Valencia region in eastern Spain expired earlier on Thursday.
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The adverse weather could lead to total insured losses of more than €4bn (£3.33bn), according to credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS.
Much of the claims are expected to be covered by the Spanish government’s insurance pool, the agency said, but insurance premiums are likely to increase.
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