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Noa is free! Israel rescues Noa Argamani who was kidnapped by Hamas motorbikers along with three other hostages seven months after they were snatched in deadly October 7 attack

3 months ago 16

This is the moment Noa Argamani who was kidnapped by Hamas motorbikers on October 7 was reunited with her father. 

An emotional video of Noa, 26, being reunited with her father has been released on social media, with the pair being filmed hugging and kissing.

The reunion comes after Noa endured a gruelling time in captivity since she was snatched at the Nova musical festival.

Israel was able to reunite them after it rescued Noa, along with three other hostages, alive from Gaza after they were captured by Hamas at Nova music festival.

The hostages are in a good medical condition, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.

This is the moment Noa Argamani who was kidnapped by Hamas motorbikers on October 7 was reunited with her father

Noa Argamani, 25, was seen kidnapped on the back of motorbike during the horrifying terrorist attacks

Noa, who is 26, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and taken into Gaza 

Noa was one of just 19 women that are still being held by the terror group 

Hamas later appeared in a chilling hostage video in January

Noa's mother Liora Argamani has stage 4 brain cancer and has repeatedly expressed her desire to see her daughter again

The other rescued hostages, who were captured by Hamas from the Nova music festival in October, were named as Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40.

The video of Noa being kidnapped on the back of a motorcycle became symbolic of the horrors faced by civilians at the festival and across southern Israel when the violence erupted. 

A video of Noa receiving a telephone call from Israeli President Isaac Herzog was distributed by his office. 'I am so happy to be here. Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment,' said a smiling Argamani, sitting with her father in a hospital room.

In another video, speaking on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Noa said, 'I am very moved. I haven't heard Hebrew for so long.'

She was kidnapped along with her boyfriend Avinatan Or from the Supernova festival on the morning of October 7. Her boyfriend is still believed to remain in captivity. 

In a statement, the IDF said: 'The hostages were rescued by the IDF, ISA and 'Yamam' forces from two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat. 

'They are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the 'Sheba' Tel-HaShomer Medical Centre for further medical examinations.

'The security forces will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home.'

The Mail On Sunday front page after the October 7 attacks - featuring Noa's plea 'Don't kill me'

Noa was filmed hugging her father today in emotional scenes after her long stint in captivity

Noa's father, Yakov, said doctors have told the family his wife, Liora, does not have long to live in November

Yakov sits with Noa's friends, who have arranged for a song to be performed in honour of Noa and her boyfriend Avi Natan, who was also abducted from the Nova festival

A video circulated on social media which allegedly showed Noa in captivity in Gaza

Her boyfriend, Avi Nathan, distraught and helpless, was also seen on video being kidnapped. Her boyfriend is still believed to remain in captivity

A photograph taken in 2023 of Avi Natan, who was also abducted from the Nova festival

Released hostage Almog Meir Jan reacts after emerging alive from the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, in Ramat Gan, Israel, today

Andrey Kozlov, a released hostage reacts, after the military said that Israeli forces

Andrey Kozlov, an Israeli hostage who was kidnapped in the deadly October attacks, has been found

Shlomi Ziv has also been found. He was also captured at the Nova music festival

Almog Meir has also been found. He was also captured at the Nova music festival

Family members of hostages react as they walk towards a medical center after the military said that Israeli forces have rescued four hostages alive from the central Gaza Strip today

Supporters and family members of hostages walk react to the news of the rescue

Supporters of hostages nervously await news of the hostage rescue operation

Noa's voice was heard on May 31, accompanied with drawings which her family believe were done by the young woman

In another video, speaking on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Noa said, 'I am very moved. I haven't heard Hebrew for so long'

The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters - a volunteer-based organisation set up to help bring hostages home - called the recovery of the four hostages 'a miraculous triumph', and called on Israel's government to bring home those still being held.

Noa's conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Noa: Hello?

Netanyahu: Hello Noa, welcome home.

Noa: Thank you very much.

Netanyahu: How are you feeling, Noa?

Noa: I'm very excited. I haven't spoken Hebrew for such a long time.

Netanyahu: Now, both Hebrew, and at home, and that's important. We have not given up on you for one minute. I don't know if you believed it, but we believed it, and it has materialized.

Noa: Thank a lot.

Netanyahu: Be blessed with you family, and hug your mother for me and for my wife.

Noa: Thanks a lot.

They said in a statement: 'The heroic operation by the IDF that freed and brought home Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan is a miraculous triumph. Now, with the joy that is washing over Israel, the Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas - the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial.

'We continue to call upon the international community to apply the necessary pressure on Hamas to accept the proposed deal and release the other 120 hostages held in captivity; every day there is a day too far.'

A Hamas official said Israel's freeing of four hostages after nine months was 'a sign of failure not an achievement', according to Reuters. 

Around 1,200 people were killed in Israeli during the Hamas attack and around 250 people were taken hostage. 

More than 100 hostages were released during a ceasefire in November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. 

After Noa was captured in October, she later appeared in a chilling hostage video in January, speaking to camera alongside fellow captives Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38. The two men were later reported to have been killed, with Noa forced to announce their deaths. 

Hamas also published a 'psychological terror' video of what was believed to be the voice of Noa Argamani on May 31.

It sparked outcry from her family and campaigners who have called for the government to bring her and the other hostages in Gaza home. 

The voice identified as Noa can be heard saying: 'I am imprisoned with Al-Qassam Brigades [the armed wing of Hamas].

'I have been in captivity for more than 237 days and do not know till when.

Sickening footage showed the moment Israeli hostage Noa was seized by Hamas and driven to Gaza on the back of a motorbike (pictured) on October 7

The chilling video showed Noa surrounded by at least ten gun-toting terrorists (pictured) who can be heard jeering and shouting at her

In the footage published in April, the woman can be heard wailing as she is manhandled by a Palestinian fighter, who holds her head down as he places a black bag over her face (pictured)

This picture of Noa - her arms outstretched toward her boyfriend as she screams for help - became one of the most recognisable images of the atrocities after it was published by The Mail on Sunday on October 8

'I say to the people of Israel: Have you become government partners with Netanyahu, Gallant and Gantz? Will my fate together with my colleagues be like Ron Arad's fate?'

Ron Arad was an Israeli airman who bailed out of his plane during a mission over southern Lebanon in 1986 and was taken hostage. Israel has tried to locate him for decades but he is now presumed dead.

The Argamani Family initially released a statement via the Hostages & Missing Families Forum shortly after the video began circulating asking that it not be broadcast.

But soon after, the forum provided the following statement, allowing the publication of the video with the family's approval.

'After assessing the situation and receiving additional information, the Argamani family has approved the use of a video in which Noa Argamani was heard while being held hostage by Hamas,' it said.

'Alongside Noa's voice, drawings are shown, which the family believes to be scribbles that Noa has drawn.'

The forum statement continued, saying, '125 men and women have been held hostage by Hamas for 238 days. The Israeli government must hear the call and act decisively, without the need for any propaganda video from Hamas, to swiftly reach a deal to bring the hostages home!'

Noa's mother Liora Argamani has stage 4 brain cancer and has repeatedly expressed her desire to see her daughter again.

Late last year, the 61-year-old made a last ditch plea to US President Joe Biden begging him for the opportunity to 'hug' her daughter 'one last time' before she dies.

A poster of Noa is seen in the Florentin neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel, May 11, 2024

Israeli civilians were taken off the street and driven back into Gaza on October 7

Footage showed hostages being taken by Hamas militants into Gaza on October 7

She said: 'I am terminally ill with Stage 4 brain cancer.

'All that's running through my mind before I part ways with my family forever is the chance to hug my daughter, my only child, one last time

'My daughter Noa is a contagiously happy and resilient young woman.

'She loves to dance, loves music, loves being with her friends and family.'

In March, she made another please to the President, saying in a video message: 'My heart really hurts. On one hand it's physical, it's not working the way it should. One the other hand, because my daughter is a hostage.

'Since the kidnapping, when I see her look in this picture, it chokes me up.

'How beautiful she is, how amazing she is. I want to see [my daughter] one more time. Talk to her one more time,' she pleaded.

'I am asking you President Joe Biden, I don't have a lot of time left in this world. It may be my last wish, I am really begging you.' 

The young woman was among more than 100 people who are believed to still be being held hostage in Gaza. She is one of just 19 women that are still being held by the terror group.

Some of the survivors who have been released from Gaza during the hostage exchange and ceasefire deal in November have described being tortured, sexually assaulted and starved in captivity.

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