“When I was on the bike, my head was on one side and the rest of my body on the other side,” she said. “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, however, she said her captors “treated her well”, giving her and other captives “the same food they ate” and bringing in a doctor to provide medicine.

“They treated us gently, and provided all our needs,” she said, when questioned about her reason for shaking the hand of one of her captors at the moment of her release.

“They seemed ready for this, they prepared for a long time, they had everything that men and women needed, including shampoo,” she added.