An elderly Israeli hostage who was released by Hamas overnight said she had been beaten by the militants when she was abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct 7, but was then treated well during her two-week captivity in the Palestinian enclave.

“They treated us with respect, provided us with medicine, took care of our hygiene, and brought doctors to examine us. They were very friendly,” she said as her daughter, Sharone Livschitz, translated her answers to a group of reporters waiting for her response.

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was one of two women freed late on Monday, leaving around 220 hostages still in the hands of Hamas, including both of their husbands.

“They took care of all the needs and if there are women here who know what women’s hygiene is they made sure that we get everything we needed,” Lifshitz told reporters, speaking while seated in a wheelchair outside the Tel Aviv hospital, where she was taken following her release.

“They gave us pitta bread, hard cheese, some low fat cream cheese, and cucumber and that was our food for the entire day,” she added.

Lifshitz added that the group was “very delicate and gentle” with them and took care of all their needs.

She criticised the Israel Defence Forces for not taking a previous “warning” from Hamas seriously enough. Her daughter said it was “wonderful” to have her mother home and they hope for all the hostages to return.

Lifshitz herself was put on a motorbike and driven into nearby Gaza.

“When I was on the bike, my legs were on one side and the rest of my body on the other side. The young men hit me on the way. They didn’t break my ribs but it was painful and I had difficulty breathing.”

She said her watch and jewellery were stolen during the ride. Inside Gaza, a group of hostages were led into what Lifshitz called a “spider’s web” of tunnels that Hamas had built beneath the coastal territory.

A group of five people from her kibbutz were held together, each with an individual guard who stayed with them 24 hours a day. Lifshitz said a doctor visited them every other day and brought them the medicines they needed.

“They took good care of the wounded,” Lifshitz said.

Video of her release on Monday showed her turning around to shake the hand of a masked captor. Asked why she had done that, she replied: “They treated us gently and met all our needs.”

“I’ve been through hell,” Lifshitz said and added that gunmen had burst into her kibbutz, Nir Oz, taking residents by surprise.

“They stormed into our homes. They beat people. They kidnapped others, the old and the young without distinction,” she said.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan has said that a third of Nir Oz’s 400 residents was believed to have been abducted or killed on Oct 7. No official data has been given.

Speaking to Reuters on Monday, her grandson said Lifshitz was a peace activist who used to help sick Palestinians in Gaza receive medical treatment in Israel, meeting them at the main border crossing and driving them to hospitals.

Lifshitz was critical on Tuesday of the Israeli military for failing to protect southern communities from the Hamas assault, saying the army had not taken the threat of attack seriously.

“We were left to fend for ourselves,” she said.

She added that a costly security fence that was meant to keep militants out “didn’t help at all”.