Israeli hostage shakes hands with Hamas captor after release and describes conditions

At the precise moment of her deliverance from a hellish ordeal Yocheved Lifshitz paused and turned to grip the hand of one of the masked Hamas militants who had kept her captive. “Shalom,” she said.

The handshake and the Hebrew word for peace were a remarkable gesture by the 85-year-old Israeli who later spoke of brutality and mercy during her 16 days as a hostage in Gaza.

At a press conference on Tuesday Lifshitz said that after initial violence her Hamas captors had shown “care” and “gentleness” – a rare description of humanity in a savage conflict that may turn even bloodier. Some Israeli commentators called her comments a public relations win for Hamas.