E-Paper
Israeli hostage Noa Argamani speaks out for first time since her rescue: ‘I'm home now, but…’
Noa's video, in which she addressed the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, was played at a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
A rescued Israeli hostage spoke out publically for the first time, recounting the horrifying ordeal in a recorded message Saturday. Noa Argamani was held captive in the Gaza Strip for 246 days after she was abducted by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre. “My biggest worry was for my parents,” the 26-year-old said, recalling her days in captivity.
Rescued Israeli hostage Noa Argamani speaks out
The China-born Israeli citizen expressed her fears “as an only child to my parents, and a child to a mother with a terminal illness” in a video released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “It is a great privilege to be here after 246 days in Hamas Captivity. It is great privilege to be by my mother’s side after eight months of uncertainty,” Noa said.
Her mother, Liora, who is fighting an advanced form of brain cancer, pleaded to US President Joe Biden for her daughter's recuse in December. “I am terminally ill with stage 4 brain cancer,” Liora wrote in a letter to Biden. “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.”
Noa's video, in which she addressed the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, was played at a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday. “I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are 120 more hostages in Hamas captivity, and among them is Avinatan Or, my partner from whom I was separated at the moment of the abduction,” she said.
Avinatan was abducted alongside her, who was seen being manhandled by a Hamas terrorist in a video recording of the attack at the Supernova music festival. Noa was also captured in the footage, screaming, “Don't kill me! No, no, no!” as she was being taken away by a gunman on his motorcycle.
“Although I’m at home now, we cannot forget the hostages who are still in Hamas captivity, and we must do everything that’s possible to bring them back home,” Noa continued, adding, “I wish for all of us to have more peaceful days, quieter days, that to be surrounded by family, friends and good people.”
