In the wake of an unexpected assault by Hamas earlier this month, a Canadian-Israeli citizen breathes a sigh of relief as news of her aunt’s release emerges, yet fear remains as her uncle’s whereabouts are unknown.
Rutie Mizrahi, who resides in Vancouver, recounted the horror she felt when her elderly kin were seized on the 7th of October along with nearly 200 individuals, primarily assumed to be Israeli civilians.
The International Committee of the Red Cross recently verified the liberation of Mizrahi’s 85-year-old aunt, Yocheved Lifshitz, alongside another captive, Nurit Cooper, aged 79. Mizrahi’s emotions overflowed upon hearing this news. She anxiously awaits her aunt’s safe return.
Reports of Lifshitz’s wellbeing are solely derived from video footage where she is seen apparently healthy, albeit visibly fatigued. As one suffering from Parkinson’s disease and a habitual user of an oxygen machine, these signs were not surprising.
Information is scarce regarding the health status and location of Mizrahi’s 83-year-old uncle, Oded Lifshitz. The uncertainty continues to gnaw at the family’s hearts.
Lifshitz, a former journalist, esteemed peace advocate, and human rights campaigner who focused notably on the Gaza-Israeli matters, is deeply missed. He extended his concern to Palestinians, driving them to their medical appointments in Israel during his leisure hours.
A tragic detail about the couple’s ordeal lies in the fact that their dwelling in the Nir Oz kibbutz community was incinerated during the brutal Hamas invasion of Israel, in which over 1,400 individuals were slaughtered. Hamas, denounced as a terrorist organization by various Western nations, left the elderly couple with nothing but ashes.
Apart from Lifshitz and Cooper, a mother and her teenage daughter with American passports are the only captives released by Hamas, purportedly in a gesture of humanitarian goodwill.
Tensions escalate as Palestinian authorities report over 5,000 fatalities due to retaliatory airstrikes by Israel. The Israeli government’s planned ground attack on Gaza only heightens anxieties. In the midst of the chaos, U.S. officials allegedly appeal to Israel to postpone the advancement, allowing negotiations for the release of more captives to proceed.
