Sawt Falasteen - Elderly Israeli woman recalls 'hell' of Hamas abduction

Israel was left stunned after militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement stormed across the Gaza border on October 7 and went on a rampage that Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people.

They also snatched more than 220 hostages in the worst-ever attack in Israel's history, that has prompted a ferocious Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory which Gaza's Hamas rulers say has killed 5,791 people.

With the hostages' families facing an agonising wait, international pressure has built to secure their release, with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron saying it must be "the first objective" of Israel's war in Gaza.

"This is an awful crime to play with the lives of children, adults, old people, civilians and soldiers," Macron said on meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

After talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron headed to the West Bank city of Ramallah to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas where he was to discuss a "decisive relaunch" of the long-dead Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

US President Joe Biden had on Monday said that any discussions about a Gaza ceasefire could only take place if Hamas freed all the hostages.

But the Palestinian Authority's top diplomat lashed out at the UN Security Council over its "failure" to stop the "ongoing massacres" by Israel in Gaza.

"It is our collective human duty to stop them," Riyad al-Maliki told a special Security Council session. "Continued failure at this council is inexcusable."

- 'They hurt me very much' -

Yocheved Lifshitz, one of two elderly Israeli women released on Monday night, recalled how the gunmen raided her kibbutz home, then threw her over the back of a motorbike, and raced back to Gaza, beating her on the way.

"They didn't break my ribs, but they hurt me very much," she told reporters after being freed with 79-year-old Nurit Cooper on what Hamas said was "compelling humanitarian" grounds following mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

Both of their octogenarian husbands are still in Gaza. Hamas has now freed four women following the release of an American mother and daughter at the weekend.

After the violence of her abduction, Lifshitz said their captors had "treated us well", describing them as courteous and explaining how a doctor visited every few days.

The militants appeared to have "prepared for a long time" for the hostage operation, she said, indicating the captives ate the same food as their captors: "Pitas with cream cheese, melted cheese, cucumbers."

The Israeli military on Tuesday dumped thousands of leaflets on Gaza calling for information about hostages in return for financial rewards, AFP journalists reported.

"If you want a better future for yourself and your children, do the right thing and send us... useful information about kidnapped people," said the Arabic-language flyer which had a phone number and details for messaging via Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal.

"The Israeli army promises to do everything to preserve your security and that of your homes, as well as a financial reward."

- Trapped under rubble -

Israel has been massing tens of thousands of troops around Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive, heightening the risk for the hostages.

As the fighting raged in Gaza, Macron called for the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group to be expanded to "also fight against Hamas".

In the afternoon, warning sirens wailed across central Israel and its Iron Dome anti-missile system could be seen intercepting missiles over the ancient port of Jaffa, a historically Arab area now part of southern Tel Aviv, the Israeli military and AFP correspondents said.

Israel stepped up its bombardments at the weekend, and overnight the Hamas-run health ministry said another 140 people had been killed in the territory of 2.4 million people which the UN says is facing a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said six of its staff had been killed in just 24 hours, bringing to 35 its total death toll since October 7.

Although Israel urged northern Gaza residents to head south ahead of an expected ground operation, its strikes have continued across the territory with thousands of buildings destroyed and entire city blocks reduced to rubble.

In the southern city of Rafah, people could be seen digging through the debris with their bare hands, with one man pleading for machinery to reach those trapped underneath.

"In Rafah, there's one machine while around five houses get bombarded per day," said Jamal Abu Ahmed, pleading for help to "retrieve children from under collapsed houses".

- Fuel shortage 'shuts hospitals' -

UN figures show more than 1.4 million people have been displaced within Gaza since the war began, with nearly 590,000 people taking shelter in its schools.

One strike in Rafah killed the family of Ayman Abu Shamalah, 34, who lost his three-year-old son, his nine-year-old daughter and his pregnant wife.

"I was coming down the stairs when the strike happened. If I had come down 30 seconds earlier, I would have been killed with them," he told AFP on Monday, sobbing inconsolably.

Although doctors managed to save the baby girl, Mecca, by Caesarian section, she remains in critical condition.

Israel has largely cut off water supplies as well as food, fuel and energy supplies to Gaza, and only a trickle of aid has been allowed in, with UN chief Antonio Guterres again demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday fuel supplies were critically low and "only enough to keep ambulances and critical hospital functions running for a little over 24 hours".

It said six hospitals across Gaza had already "shut down due to lack of fuel" and it had been unable to distribute any life-saving health supplies to northern Gaza due to the lack of security.

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K.Hassan--SF-PST