The niece of one of the two hostages freed by Hamas on Monday breathed a sigh of relief that her aunt was now safe and now hopes the terror group will free her uncle as well.
Rutie Mizrahi, the niece of Yocheved Lifshitz, the 85-year-old hostage released Monday for humanitarian reasons, shared her joy in interviews with CTV and CBC.
“I was really happy and relieved. I couldn’t really believe it. Two weeks ago, I couldn’t believe they had been kidnapped,” Ms. Mizrahi, who lives in Vancouver, told CBC.
“I’ve been in tears since I found out. I can’t wait any longer for her to come home,” she added to CTV.
Ms. Mizrahi said she does not know what condition her aunt is in, as she suffers from Parkinson’s and needs oxygen to sleep.
The woman also does not know what happened to her uncle, Oded Lifshitz, 83, who was also taken hostage and brought to the Gaza Strip by Hamas. As she has not yet been able to speak to her aunt, she does not know if she was with her partner.
The two octogenarians have been described as peace activists. Oded Lifshitz notably organized the transport of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Israeli hospitals so that they could be treated, his grandson Daniel Lifshitz described to Reuters.
Yocheved Lifshitz was released at the same time as Nurit Cooper, 79, with the assistance of the Red Cross which organized their transport. This is the second time that Hamas has released hostages, following the release of an American woman and her daughter on Friday.