The grandson of one of the two Israeli hostages freed by the military wing of Hamas said he felt a "huge sting" in his heart to see his grandmother looking so "fragile" after what she had been through.
Daniel Lifshitz spoke about the moment he first saw his grandmother Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, on Monday evening in a hotel where she and other survivors who were kidnapped earlier this month from Kibbutz Nir Oz were staying.
"I know my grandmother — my grandmother is a very, very, very strong woman. I don't know anyone stronger than her," he said on TODAY.
"To see her in this fragile situation ... from one side I was so happy to see her and so happy that she can walk, but I saw her and also I felt such a huge, huge, huge sting in my heart to see her in that situation, knowing that she's been through so much."
The military wing of Hamas wrote in a statement on Telegram on Oct. 23 it had decided to release Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper, 79, for "compelling humanitarian" reasons.
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had "facilitated" the release of the two captives and transported them out of Gaza on Monday evening, according to a statement posted on the X social media platform.
Daniel Lifshitz said his grandmother told him his grandfather was injured while he was trying to avoid their abduction from their home. After that, they were taken on motorbikes to Gaza, which is the last time his grandmother has seen his grandfather, he said.
"His situation is unknown for the moment and that is making me very afraid. To see my grandmother coming back in that situation, because she was released from the humanitarian situation, which means her situation was not good," he said. "Thinking about my grandfather, what he's going through — I'm really afraid."
At least 212 people have been taken hostage by Hamas after terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Daniel Lifshitz called on the international community to apply more pressure to Hamas to release the other hostages.
"We have we have more than 200 hostages still there — they have unknown condition and I really hope we'll continue all that pressure," he said.
"We're still losing time, the world's pressure has to continue as Israel holds ... some negotiations. We need to speed up everything to bring all those people back. This is very scary moment for me."
The release of Lifshitz's grandmother and Yitzhak came days after Hamas released two other hostages, Americans Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, on Oct. 20.
Former Israel-based NBC News correspondent Martin Fletcher, who revealed on-air last week that Judith and Natalie are related to his wife, said on TODAY on Oct. 23 it was unclear why they chosen to be released. He also said that eight other members of his family are among the hundreds of others who are still being held hostage.
"They’re actually sitting shiva at the moment — the Israeli week of mourning — for two other members of the family who were killed," Fletcher said of Judith and Natalie Raanan. "So there’s great relief, obviously, but great concern as well."
At least 1,400 people have died in Israel in the Israel-Hamas war, and at least 5,791 have died in Gaza, according to officials.
