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A British woman has spoken of her relief after her 85-year-old mother was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza following a 16-day kidnap ordeal.
Footage released last night showed Yochved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper, 79, being handed over to the Red Cross at the Rafah crossing by Hamas gunmen.
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The women have now been handed over to the Israel Defense Forces custody and are making their way to a hospital in Israel especially set up for them, where they will be reunited with their families, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Yochved’s daughter, British citizen Sharone Lifshitz, 52, confirmed the news, admitting she ‘could not put into words’ how ‘relieved’ she was.
She said: ‘I can confirm that my mother Yochi (Yocheved) Lifshitz was one of two hostages released to the Red Cross this evening.
Yocheved Lifshitz, with her husband Oded(Picture: via REUTERS)
Yocheved with her grandson Daniel(Credits: via REUTERS)
Yocheved and Nurit Cooper (also known as Nurit Yitzhak) who were held hostages by Palestinian Hamas militants(Picture: via REUTERS)
‘While I cannot put into words the relief that she is now safe, I will remain focused on securing the release of my father and all those – some 200 innocent people – who remain hostages in Gaza.’
She told the BBC this morning that her mum ‘seems okay’ and said: ‘She is very sharp and is very keen to share the information, pass on the information to families of other hostages she was with.’
Both women were abducted from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre. Their husbands remain in Gaza.
Yochved known as Yochi, was kidnapped from her home alongside her husband, Oded, 83.
Hamas said it had released the two women for humanitarian reasons, days after freeing an American woman and her teenage daughter.
Yocheved Lifshitz, who was held hostage by Palestinian Hamas militants, is assisted after being released by the militants last night (Picture: via REUTERS)
Ms Lifschitz spoke to the BBC this morning after her mum was released last night
Ms Lifschitz, from London, had spoken to the media on Monday about how she had not heard from either of her parents since Hamas’s ambush more than two weeks’ ago that left 1,400 people dead.
She described them as having complex health needs, telling Times Radio that her father had recorded high blood pressure the night before he was captured.
Ms Lifschitz shared her story earlier this month. She said: ‘My father is 83 and my mother is 85. She needs oxygen and he has a lung disease. They cannot survive on their own in this environment’, she said at the time.
‘What kind of person would do this? In my life I just cannot imagine a type of person that could do this.
‘My father is not the enemy. He spent his retirement driving Palestinians from the border to and from the hospital. He is not the enemy. He believes in humanity in all people.’
She issued a chilling plea at the time, saying: ‘This is our moment of reckoning. It’s bigger than the Yom Kippur War, it’s bigger than 9/11. This is what Israel was founded for, so we weren’t running or hiding, or shot in our own homes and chased to our deaths. But it is happening.
‘This whole place has been erased like a little Jewish village in wartime Russia. There is no difference. It does not exist anymore.
‘Now is not the time to do anything but fight for the safe return of our people. Once they have returned, we can rise from the ashes. But we need to get these people home.
‘The time is short and it is running out – they will not survive. We cannot sit here and talk about who’s done what. Not until we’ve brought them home.
‘The British Government must do everything in their power to help the safe return of these people. We don’t want to ignite, we want to save.’
In a video published by Hamas’s Qassam Brigades on Monday, the hostages can be seen wearing identical purple robes as they walk unsteadily holding the hands of two black-clad masked gunmen.
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She was captured by miitants 16 days ago.