A grandmother released as a hostage by Hamas militants is “very sharp and is very keen” to share information, her daughter has said, as efforts continue to free the other captives and supply aid to Palestinians.
Sharone Lifschitz, who is based in London, said her 85-year-old mother, Yocheved Lifshitz, “seems OK” after being freed from her weeks-long ordeal in Gaza.
She was released alongside fellow Israeli citizen Nurit Cooper, 79, on Monday evening, but their husbands, 83 and 84, remain captive with more than 200 other civilians.
Britain said six of its nationals are among those still being held hostage since Hamas launched its bloody raids on Israel on October 7.
Being released by the Palestinian militants, Mrs Lifshitz was seen reaching back to shake one of their hands as she was released to Red Cross officials.
Ms Lifschitz, an artist and academic who spells her name differently from her mother, said it was “incredible” to be reunited with her – “to hold her hand and to kiss her cheek”.
“She is very sharp and is very keen to share the information, pass on the information to families of other hostages she was with,” she told the BBC.
She said she will continue to campaign for the release of her father, Oded Lifschitz, and the other captives.
“I hope he is being looked after and has the chance to talk,” Sharone Lifschitz said.
“He speaks good Arabic, so he can communicate very well with the people there.
“He knows many people in Gaza and the West Bank. I want to think that he’s going to be OK.
“My mum said they had been looked after and there was a doctor there, so this gives a lot of comfort to everybody.
“We have so many people that we’ve lost – it is a little ray of light but there is a huge darkness as well.”
Ms Lifschitz said she and her mother still dream of peace with the Palestinians, even as an expected ground invasion of Gaza by Israel threatens sparking a wider war in the region.
“We have to find ways because there is no alternative. If anything, it makes me even more resolved,” she said.
“The way has got longer – we are dealing with grief and loss on a level we can never get over, but as nations we will have to find a way forward.”
The release of the two women took the total number of people freed to four, with an American woman and her teenage daughter having been released three days earlier.
In the UK, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins confirmed that the number of British nationals being held hostage by Hamas is believed to be six.
“They are our absolute priority,” the minister told Sky News.
Charities have been urging the Government to prepare to provide refuge to thousands of Palestinians who want to flee Gaza, home to more than two million people.
But Ms Atkins said it is not the right time to consider providing sanctuary.
She told LBC: “At this point in time, I don’t think that’s the right response, because we need to keep the pressure on this terrorist organisation to stop their hostilities, to release hostages and to come back to the diplomatic negotiating table.
“We want Palestinians to be able to live freely in their own area. We do not want these hostilities to continue by this terrorist organisation.”
The Foreign Office welcomed the release of the hostages.
“Our thoughts remain with the families of loved ones still being held captive, as they endure unimaginable anguish and worry at this time,” a spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to work tirelessly with Qatar, Israel and others to ensure all hostages come home safely.”
Doha is a key mediator in the Middle East conflict, with a number of figures in Hamas’s political wing said to live in Qatar.
Mrs Lifshitz and Ms Cooper were handed over to the Red Cross at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Hamas said it had released the two women for humanitarian reasons.
Along with their husbands, they were snatched from their homes in the kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border during Hamas’s rampage into southern Israeli communities.
More than 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, were killed during the initial Hamas attack.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, more than 5,000 Palestinians, including around 2,000 minors and 1,100 women, have been killed since.
