It is a moment of joy they will never forget – and one they feared might never come.
Israeli hostage Noa Argamani is embraced by her weeping father Yakob as the pair are reunited after months of hell. Noa, 26, is one of four hostages Israeli forces yesterday claimed to have rescued “under fire” on a mission in central Gaza. A video of her capture by Hamas in the October 7 massacre was seen worldwide as she screamed “don’t kill me” while carried off on a motorbike between two men in the attack on a music festival in Israel.
Noa was seized with boyfriend Avinatan Or whose whereabouts are still unknown. Now, following months of bloodshed, she will be reunited with her mother Liora who has stage 4 brain cancer, and released a video in April pleading to see her daughter before she dies.
Israel said Noa and three other hostages, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were rescued in two locations in daytime raids in the heart of Nuseirat refugee camp yesterday morning. They came at a heavy price. A health official said Israeli aircraft hummed overhead as the bodies of nearly 100 Palestinians, including children, were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital with 100 more wounded also arriving.
Reporters saw dozens of bodies from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas. Israel’s military said it had attacked “threats to our forces”. A total of 250 hostages were taken by Hamas in the October attack that killed around 1,200 people. In a November ceasefire, about half were released. Some 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead.
Released Chinese-born Israeli Noa spoke to PM Benjamin Netanyahu by phone. He asked how she was feeling. She told him she was “very excited”. Pressure is mounting on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed. The war reached its eighth month on Friday, with more than 36,700 Palestinians killed, says Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy tweeted the rescue was “a glimmer of hope in the darkness. We need an immediate ceasefire now, to get all the hostages released and a surge of aid into Gazal”. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “The rescue of four hostages will be a huge relief to their families. My thoughts are also with families of those still captive.”