Kidnapped Noa Argamani managed to survive 246 difficult days in Hamas captivity in Gaza until she was rescued in Operation Arnon and returned to Israel. Today (Thursday) she spoke for the first time in front of diplomats of the G7 countries in Tokyo, Japan about the long and difficult captivity. Argamani shared her difficult health condition during her time in captivity: “I had cuts on my head, I was hurt in all parts of my body, no one came to give me medical help until I was rescued.”
Argamani said that every night she fell asleep thinking it would be her last night and described the harsh conditions in which the abductees stay in Gaza: “They fear for their lives every day.” Argamani emphasized the importance of returning all 109 abductees remaining in Gaza and said she considers her return a “miracle”.
“I survived the 7th of October and I survived the bombings. I also survived the rescue, but it’s a miracle,” said the POW survivor. Argamani reminded those sitting in the room that her partner Avinatan Or is still in captivity and said: “We need to bring them back. Before it’s too late. We don’t want to lose more people, in addition to all the ones we’ve already lost.”
“It’s a miracle that I came back,” Noa Argamani said in the moments after the rescue to Israel
Argamani, who was kidnapped to Gaza from the Nova party, told about the first moments of October 7: “We started hearing rockets. We saw a video of terrorists entering a family’s house and then we realized that something unusual was happening and that we had to flee.” Argamani said that she and the mobsters who were with her fled for about 4 hours, while the terrorists were shooting at them.
Argamani told about the long stay in captivity and the uncertainty: “The whole time she was kidnapped, I didn’t know if my parents knew my fate, if I was kidnapped or killed and they didn’t find the body.” Argamani said that the house where she was held was bombed by the IDF and as a result the abductee Yossi Sharabi was killed. Two days later, Argamani says, Itay Sabirsky was murdered by a Hamas terrorist. “Two of my friends were killed in captivity and did not return to their families,” Argamani testified.
246 long and difficult days in captivity – which ended in a heroic rescue
Noa Argamani was rescued from Hamas captivity after 246 days as part of “Operation Arnon” alongside Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan. According to about a month, Argamani published a story on social media with words of farewell and a eulogy to Commander Arnon Zamora who fell during the heroic operation in which he was rescued. “I want to thank you personally and from the bottom of my heart for the fact that in your courage you did not think twice – that you chose to save a life even knowing that you would risk your life,” Argamani wrote to him.
“Want to thank you from the bottom of my heart”, Argamani’s post about the late Zamora
Argamani wrote to the officer who participated in the rescue and the operation was named after him: “Arnon, I didn’t get to know or see you, but it is clear to me that I could not have written these lines now if you had not sacrificed yourself in the heroic rescue operation for our liberation.” Argamani thanked Zamora for bravely not thinking twice and going on the rescue operation. “That you did it every time again and all for the sake of the abductees and for the whole people of Israel,” Argamani said.
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