Yocheved Lifshitz speaks after being released by Hamas (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the first interview given by Yocheved Lifshitz following her captivity in Gaza, taken from a video uploaded to YouTube by i24NEWS English on Oct 24, 2023.

There are three main speakers. The format is first a statement in Hebrew, sometimes directly by Yocheved, and sometimes repeated into the microphone by her daughter Sharone, particularly early on. Sharone also translates her mother’s words into English during the interview. Whenever Hebrew is spoken by anyone, the below transcription is of the English being spoken by the interpreter.

This transcript begins at roughly the 2m50s mark, which is timestamped in above link.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional transcriptivist, I’m just a guy.

Interpreter (Yocheved speaking directly): Hello everyone. My name is Yocheved Lifshitz, born in 1938. Born here in Israel. I thank you for coming to hear about the tragedy of myself and my friends. We hope to pass through this period.

Sharone (speaking Hebrew, via interpreter): I will repeat what she says. She will speak to me. My mother said she thanks you for coming here today. She was born here in Israel in 1938. Take your time. I’ve been through hell. We never thought we’d reach such a state. They went berserk in our kibbutz. Put me on a motorcycle on the side and drove through the fields. They blew up the fence, the electronic fence that was built for two and half billion dollars to no avail. Masses stormed our homes, hit people, they kidnapped many. They did not care about kidnapping elderly and children. It was extremely painful. They brought us to the entrance. When I laid on the motorcycle, I was on the side, and on the way they beat me. They didn’t break my limbs, but it was extremely painful for me. I will repeat what she said.

Sharone (speaking English): We are not taking questions at this point. Okay, my mom is telling the horrific stories. She is saying that many, many people, a swarm of people came through the fence, that the fence cost two and a half billion shekels, and it didn’t help even a little bit. My mom is saying that she was taken on the back of a motorbike with her body, uh, with her legs on one side and her head on another side. That she was taken through the plowed fields, with a man in front on one side and a man behind her, and that while she was being taken she was hit by sticks by… shabab? Yeah, shabab people. Until they reached the tunnels… There they walked for a few kilometers on the wet ground. There are a huge network of tunnels underneath, it looks like a spiderweb. I will repeat it in Hebrew.

Sharone (speaking Hebrew via interpreter): Mom says she was taken on the back of a motorcycle, one man was sitting in front of her and another one behind her, her legs to the side. She said they drove through the plowed fields, and as they drove she was beaten with sticks to her back. [In English] They took off the watch and the jewelry as she was driving. [In Hebrew] Carry on. When we got there, they told us that they believe in the Quran, and they will do us no harm and give us the same conditions that they have. [In English] When my mom…

Interpreter (Yocheved speaking directly): Continue her story. We started walking through the tunnels with a wet ground with extreme humidity. We reached a big hall where some 25 kidnapped were concentrated. After two or three hours, they separated from my kibbutz five people, and they put them in a separate room. Their guards were next to us, with a paramedic and a doctor… Carry on. We laid there on mattresses. They took care of the sanitary situation. A doctor came every two or three days to check on us. A paramedic was there as well and provided some medicine. There was a guy that was carried by the motorbike. He was wounded very badly in his hands and his legs. It was very difficult to see him. He is in a better condition now. The doctor prescribed some sort of antibiotics. His condition started improving. We were five and each had a guard that was in charge of us. There were a lot of women there. They took care of having the women hygiene. They cleaned us up for disease. They fear that they themselves will be contaminated by infections. I do not wish to speak about politics. They spoke about all sorts of things. They were friendly in their way.

Sharone (speaking English): Okay, my mom is telling about coming through the tunnels… A perfect situation. My mom is talking about coming there. When they arrived, they arrived into a large hall in which about 25 hostages were gathered, and after a two or three hours, those hostages, five of them, she among them, were taken into a separate room. My mom is saying that they were very friendly towards them, and that they took care of them, that they were given the medicine… that they were given medicine, and they were treated. One of the men with them had a [sic: was] badly injured from a motorbike accident on the way, and the paramedic was looking after his wounds. It was given medicine and antibiotics, that the people were friendly, that they kept the place very clean, that were very concerned about them.

Interpreter: They divided us into groups and according to kibbutzes. They took care of our needs. They made sure that we eat the same food that they eat. White cheese and cucumbers. That was a meal for a whole day.

Sharone: My mom is talking about the conditions… My mom is speaking about the time there. She’s telling us about sharing food with the people. That the people when she first arrived when they told them that they are Muslims and they’re not going to hurt them, and that they shared… they ate the same food that their… the Hamas was eating. My mom feels that it’s quite… my mom feels that it’s quite enough at the moment… It’s wonderful. My mom is very much hoping that all the people that were with her will come back, and the story is not over till everybody come back, and we can start building again something.

Interpreter: Last message. We were very hurt by the fact that the IDF did not know. [Where are/we are] the scapegoats. They’ve warned us three weeks prior with people who came to the road and burned fields, sent incendiary balloons to burn our fields, and the IDF did not address this seriously. Suddenly, on Saturday morning when everything was quiet, there was a heavy bombardment of the communities, and with that the masses infiltrated, blew up the expensive fence, opened the gates of the kibbutz and entered in their masses. It was extremely difficult! I keep having those images in my mind.

[A reporter] is asking, “Why did you shake the hand of the Hamas terrorist in the visual?”

They were gentle with us. Our needs were supplied.

Sharone: My mom is saying that they treat them kindly and provided for them.

Interpreter: They prepared for this. They were prepared for a very long time, including the needs of the women.

We will not take questions.

They said once that Israel announced that there are 900 people killed, but they have a thousand if not more. Thank you.

I do not… I only know about the group that was with me in the room.

We will stay here, and we will answer questions.

Thank you, Yochevad.

Yes, give us one minute, and we would answer questions.

[End of transcript.]