Headline Roundup • October 24th, 2023
Hostage Released by Hamas Describes Capture, Tunnel System
Summary from the AllSides News Team
One of the two hostages released by Hamas on Monday described her capture to reporters.
The Details: Hamas released two women, Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, on Monday, citing "humanitarian and poor health grounds." Roughly 200 more hostages remain held inside Gaza.
Key Quotes: Lifshitz said terrorists "stormed into our homes. They beat people. They kidnapped others, the old and the young without distinction." She described the ordeal as going "through hell." She also said she was taken into an underground tunnel system, where people "who told us we believe in the Quran" greeted her and pledged "not to harm" her or other hostages. She also noted that the kidnappers "were very generous to us, very kind" and "kept us clean."
How the Media Covered It: Many sources across the spectrum highlighted Lifshitz's comment about going through hell, but framed the rest of her comments in different ways. Many sources, including Reuters (Center bias), CNN (Lean Left), and New York Post (Lean Right), also highlighted Lifshitz's comments about captors taking care of hostages. Others like Fox News (Right) didn't and focused solely on the sordid details.
Why the Difference? Some right-rated outlets may have left out Lifshitz's comments about captors treating hostages well to avoid framing Hamas in a positive light. Read more about ideological divisions over Israel and Palestine.
Featured Coverage of this Story
AP/Ariel Schalit
One of the two Israeli hostages released yesterday by Hamas is now speaking out about her time as a captive of the Palestinian terrorist group, describing a "spiderweb" of tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip where she was fed only one meal per day.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was taken from Israel on Oct. 7 alongside her 83-year-old husband Oded, who still remains held inside the Gaza Strip. Lifshitz said civilians beat her once she was brought into Gaza before being moved into an extensive tunnel system where Hamas did provide hostages with some medicine and...
An elderly Israeli hostage who was released by Hamas overnight said she had been beaten by the militants when she was abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct. 7, but was then treated well during her two-week captivity in the Palestinian enclave.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was one of two women freed late on Monday, leaving around 220 hostages still in the hands of Hamas, including both of their husbands.
"I've been through hell," Lifshitz told reporters, speaking in barely a whisper and seated in a wheelchair outside the Tel Aviv hospital, where...
An Israeli hostage released by Hamas has described her ordeal after she was kidnapped by gunmen and taken into a tunnel system in Gaza during the Palestinian militant group’s deadly assault in Israel on October 7, saying “I went through hell.”
Yocheved Lifshitz, a frail 85-year-old grandmother who was one of two hostages released by Hamas on Monday, recounted the moment that militants snatched her from her home in the kibbutz of Nir Oz and drove her away on a motorbike towards Gaza, a “painful act” during which she said she was beaten and...
