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Best of Today

'To see my mum again is an incredible thing'

Best of Today

BBC

News, Daily News

4.0837 Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2023

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The daughter of Yocheved Lifschitz, one of the hostages freed last night, has visited her mother in hospital in Israel and has told Today she "seems OK".

In an interview with Today presenter Mishal Husain, Sharone Lifschitz said: "The nurses are just having a chat, they say she is very sharp and is very keen to share the information, pass on the information to families of other hostages that she was with."

Yocheved Lifschitz was held for 16 days after being abducted from her home in a kibbutz in southern Israel amid scenes of death and destruction.

Today's Nick Robinson also spoke to BBC Correspondent in Gaza Rushdi Abualouf.

And Noam Sagi joined Nick and Mishal in the studio. His mother, Ada Sagi, was taken hostage in the kibbutz of Nir Oz, near Israel's border with Gaza.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It is the best news the family of a hostage can have.

0:07.7

Sharon Lifshitz learned yesterday that her mother, Jochavad, was being freed, 16 days after

0:13.1

being abducted from her home in Akibbutz in southern Israel amid scenes of death and destruction.

0:19.1

Sharon got on a plane to Israel last night and saw her mother

0:21.8

this morning in Tel Aviv. But it is only half the news she hopes for. Her 83-year-old

0:27.5

father, Odette, a long-term peace campaigner, is still held, as are more than 200 others.

0:33.8

Sharon spoke to us from the hospital, first about her mother. I arrived. My mom is asleep. She was given an appeal, so we have yet to have a real conversation with her.

0:44.0

My brother is with her. My mom is okay. She's the nurses that were just having a chat.

0:50.7

They say she's very sharp and she's very keen to share the information. We're

0:56.2

passing the information to families of other hostages. She was with. She seems okay.

1:03.7

You saw her. I sat next to her for like an hour and then came out and my brother is with her everybody is so tired and I think

1:14.7

you know she's been through a lot were you able to even hope for this Sharon in these dark days

1:23.1

of the last fortnight I think that it's really hard to know what to hope for and so much

1:33.7

is lost for my personal life to see my mom again is an incredible thing just to hold

1:42.6

their hand, just to kiss her face and her cheek.

1:46.2

And I'm so proud of her.

1:48.1

She's amazing.

1:50.3

She's, you know, I think she's just the way she walked off and then came back and said,

1:58.3

thank you.

1:58.9

It was quite incredible to me. I've been looking on it in the flight back and forth and back and said, thank you. It was quite incredible to me.

2:00.9

I've been looking on it in the flight back and forth,

2:04.4

and it's just, it's so her.

...

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