https://www.asiaone.com/world/israeli-hostage-couple-reunites-after-hamas-captivity-gaza
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Released Israeli hostage, Avinatan Or, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, kisses his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was also taken hostage and rescued in 2024, after his release as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel Oct 13, 2025.
PHOTO: Israel Defence Forces via Reuters
PUBLISHED ON October 14, 2025 9:29 AM
JERUSALEM — Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani — whose desperate cries on the back of a motorcycle became one of the most haunting images of the Hamas Oct 7, 2023, attack — was reunited on Monday (Oct 13) with her newly freed boyfriend, Avinatan Or.
A government video showed Or, 32, first hugging and kissing his parents as his mother Ditza chants the Jewish "shehecheyanu" blessing voicing gratitude for new experiences on his return from two years of Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Or is then led to a room where he finds Argamani, 28, who was rescued from captivity by Israeli special forces in Gaza along with three other hostages in June 2024. The two embrace and kiss, apparently overwhelmed by the moment.
Footage of Argamani being taken into Gaza on the motorcycle, pleading for her life and reaching desperately towards her boyfriend as he marched alongside her on foot circulated across the globe soon after the Oct 7 attack.
Released hostage Avinatan Or, who was kidnapped during the deadly Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and taken to Gaza, reacts upon arrival at the site of Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Hospital, amid a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Petah Tikva, Israel Oct 13, 2025.
PHOTO: Israel Defence Forces via Reuters
The two were seized from the Nova music festival that was one of the main focuses of the Hamas attack in southern Israel. More than 360 people were killed at the site and another 40 were taken hostage. After her return, Argamani campaigned for the return of the other hostages.
On Monday, Hamas handed over Or and 19 other surviving Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, who arrived in Israel shortly before Or was freed.
Israel released about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in the exchange deal.
world
Israeli hostage couple reunites after Hamas captivity in Gaza
Released Israeli hostage, Avinatan Or, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, kisses his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was also taken hostage and rescued in 2024, after his release as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel Oct 13, 2025.
PHOTO: Israel Defence Forces via Reuters
PUBLISHED ON October 14, 2025 9:29 AM
JERUSALEM — Former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani — whose desperate cries on the back of a motorcycle became one of the most haunting images of the Hamas Oct 7, 2023, attack — was reunited on Monday (Oct 13) with her newly freed boyfriend, Avinatan Or.
A government video showed Or, 32, first hugging and kissing his parents as his mother Ditza chants the Jewish "shehecheyanu" blessing voicing gratitude for new experiences on his return from two years of Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Or is then led to a room where he finds Argamani, 28, who was rescued from captivity by Israeli special forces in Gaza along with three other hostages in June 2024. The two embrace and kiss, apparently overwhelmed by the moment.
Footage of Argamani being taken into Gaza on the motorcycle, pleading for her life and reaching desperately towards her boyfriend as he marched alongside her on foot circulated across the globe soon after the Oct 7 attack.
PHOTO: Israel Defence Forces via Reuters
The two were seized from the Nova music festival that was one of the main focuses of the Hamas attack in southern Israel. More than 360 people were killed at the site and another 40 were taken hostage. After her return, Argamani campaigned for the return of the other hostages.
On Monday, Hamas handed over Or and 19 other surviving Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, who arrived in Israel shortly before Or was freed.
Israel released about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in the exchange deal.
