An elderly Israeli hostage who was released by Hamas overnight said she had been beaten by militants as she was taken into Gaza, but was then treated well during her two-week captivity in the Palestinian enclave.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was one of two women freed late on Monday, leaving around 220 hostages taken during Hamas' 7 October attack incursion in the hands of the militant group.
The two women were the third and fourth hostages to be released.
"I've been through hell, we didn't think or know we would get to this situation," she told reporters on Tuesday, while seated in a wheelchair outside the Tel Aviv hospital where she was taken following her release.
Looking frail, Lifshitz said she had been put on a motorbike and driven from her kibbutz into nearby Gaza.
"When I was on the bike, my head was 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."
Once in Gaza, she said her captors took her into tunnels that she compared to a spider's web, and treated her well.
Lifshitz said a doctor had visited her and made sure she and other hostages received the same sort of medicines they had been taking in Israel.
She said the Israeli military had not taken the threat of Hamas seriously enough, and that the costly security fence meant to keep militants out "didn't help at all".
It came as Irael said on Tuesday it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters overnight in strikes on Gaza but that its war to destroy them, which involves bombarding and blockading the Palestinian enclave, would take time.
The United Nations urged Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, trapped in a humanitarian crisis after two weeks of intense Israeli attacks, saying the aid let in so far met a tiny fraction of the needs, and fuel, still blocked, was crucial.
"We are on our knees asking for that sustained, scaled up, protected humanitarian operation," said Dr Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region.
There appeared to be little prospect of a ceasefire any time soon in the bloodiest episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in decades. Scores of Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded overnight, medical officials in Gaza said.
Yocheved Lifshitz, left, and Nurit Cooper, who were held hostage by Palestinian Hamas militants, have been released. Source: AP / AP
Israeli tanks and troops are massed on the border between Israel and the Hamas-ruled enclave for an expected ground invasion - an operation that will be complicated by concerns over the hostages.
The Israeli military said it had hit more than 400 militant targets in Gaza overnight and killed dozens of Hamas fighters, including three deputy commanders.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said four Australians and a permanent resident had crossed the Palestinian border into Jordan from the West Bank.
Wong said the Kingdom of Jordan had assisted the five people.
"Officials remain in touch with other registered Australians wishing to depart the West Bank for Jordan," she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"We are also assisting a number of New Zealand citizens."
More than 1,800 previously registered Australians have left Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, including where on Monday the Israeli army and Palestinians clashed.
The significant escalation is the latest in a long-standing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas's stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
The UN though did not condemn Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation, due to insufficient support from member states to do so during a 2018 vote.
