I just wanted to share with you this message that Noa shared with everyone gathered at Hostage Square tonight. It was so very emotional to see her like this, back home and free. We still pray for her partner Avinatan to return home one day. Thanks to Bring Them Home Now for the video. 💛
Noa Argamani
Finally free: Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv
Noa Argamani
Saturday June 8 is the birthday of Noa Argamani’s father, Yaakov Argamani. The only thing Yaakov wished for this year was his only daughter, Noa, back. His wife, Liora, is terminally ill with a brain tumor. Her last wish is to see her daughter Noa again.
Their beautiful daughter was violently abducted from the Supernova festival. The entire world saw the footage of her being dragged on to a motorcycle, crying and begging for her life, stretching out her arms to her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who was also being kidnapped.
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Yaakov and Liora were afraid they would never see their only child again. But yesterday, on Yaakov’s birthday, their dearest wish was fulfilled: Noa was freed from Hamas captivity and brought back to Israel, where she reunited with her father and then immediately was brought to the hospital to embrace her dying mother.
I cannot describe the incredible joy and relief we all felt yesterday, seeing the images of Noa in the helicopter, being hugged and kissed by her father, speaking on the phone with the president, and setting off to the hospital to see her mother. The meeting with her mother was private, as it should be.
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I could not stop crying, Noa is the cousin of a friend of mine. If I wished for anything, it was for Noa to come back home. Noa is Yaakov and Liora’s only child. And Liora’s illness made it all so much more heartbreaking. So many tears we shed for them, and now we are finally crying happy tears! 🧡
And Noa was not to only one to be freed. The IDF carried out a very risky operation which destroyed a building in the town Nuseirat in central Gaza, and which killed many Gazans. This is desperately sad and I wish it hadn’t happened.
But Hamas knew this would happen, and they put the hostages there anyway. They knew we would stop at nothing to free the hostages, and they still chose to hide them among the people. Hamas knows we will do ANYTHING to bring them back home. They intentionally endanger their own people, just to make Israel look bad. All of this could have been avoided if they had just given us back the hostages. And why? Why did they invade our country, murder thousands and then abduct hundreds? All of this suffering and pain on both sides could have been avoided if they had not chosen to attack us. And civilians are complicit in this. Civilians stole Noa. I hope the men in that video, the ones who laughed as she begged for her life, now paid the price.
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Almog Meir Jan
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Almog Meir Jan is 21 years old and was kidnapped from the Supernova festival. He was seen in footage, handcuffed, cowering and terrified.
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Almog had just finished his army duty and was due to start his first job on October 8. The company has promised to keep the position open for him. According to his mother, Orit, he is very family-oriented and is close with his mother, his sister and uncle. He helps take care of his grandparents and has many friends. Almog called his mother from the party, telling her he loved her, before he was captured.
On Saturday, he was finally freed and reunited with his mother, family and friends. He asked them if they had seen the hostage video of him, but they hadn’t. Nobody had. Hamas had recorded a hostage video of him, of course saying what they told him to say, but had never released it, so no one knew and no one saw that precious sign of life. But now he is back, safe and well!
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In a strange and sad twist, Almog’s father is reported to have died in his home the same Saturday. There is no news yet of how he died and whether he knew his son had been freed. I hope so much that he knew. But if he didn’t, I am sure that he knows now. 🦋
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Andrey Kozlov
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Andrey Kozlov, 27, is a Russian-Israeli who worked as a security guard at the Supernova music festival. The Russian government called for his release along with other Russian hostages:
“The Russian side stressed the need for the immediate release of civilians, including three Russian nationals, Andrey Kozlov, Alexander Lobanov, and Alexander Trufanov, who were kidnapped in the October 7, 2023 attacks and have been held by Palestinian groups ever since.” (From: the Jerusalem Post.)
But that didn’t happen. From the Times of Israel: “Three Russian citizens — Ron Krivoy, Irina Tatty and Elena Trufanova — were previously released. Alexander Trufanov and Alexander Lobanov remain in captivity.”
Andrey had immigrated to Israel only a year and a half before October 7, 2023. He was still learning Hebrew. After his release, he said that he continued learning Hebrew and practiced with the other hostages while in captivity. His parents flew out from Russia as soon as they could and his girlfriend, Jennifer Master, was waiting for him. They had been tirelessly lobbying for his release, both in Israel and in Russia. You’re a hero to us, Andrey!
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Shlomi Ziv
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Shlomi Ziv is 41 years old and studied interior design. He was at the Supernova festival working as a security guard, as a favour to his friends, Aviv Eliyahu and Jake Marlowe. Eliyahu and Marlowe were both killed at the site. Shlomi was listed as missing.
Shlomi is married to Miran. They have been together for 17 years. Miran told Ynet: “We’ve been through so much – [fertility ] treatments, a difficult miscarriage, more treatments. (…) It was just the two of us, Shlomi and me, so we are also so connected. The treatments only strengthened us; it didn’t break us apart like it had happened to other couples. We are each other’s world.”
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When the attack started at the festival, Shlomi opened the gates so people could flee. He called his two younger sisters, Adi and Revital, and tried to tell them what was going on, while running himself. He told them he would call back. But he never did. Eight days later, he was officially listed as a hostage.
Shlomi’s wife, mother, sisters and cousin worked tirelessly for his release. His cousin, Liat Ariel, created something extraordinary called Shlomi’s glasses, a virtual reality tool that shows people an 8 minute movie simulating the experience of being kidnapped and held hostage in Gaza.
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Many people have tried on the glasses, including politicians and journalists. Liat Ariel told JNS news: “I decided to create “Shlomi’s glasses” to show the world what it’s like to be at a festival similar to Burning Man in America or others in Europe and find yourself under attack.”
Then, on June 8, Shlomi was rescued. Finally, after 8 months, he could embrace his wife, his parents, his sisters and his cousin again.
About his time in Gaza, Shlomi said that he knew nothing of what was going on on the outside. He was held with other hostages and they passed the time talking and playing games. He didn’t know his two friends, Aviv and Jake, were dead. His family says he lost a lot of weight but is in good condition.
Welcome home, Shlomi, we are so happy to have you back! 🧡
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Arnon Zmora
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These days, good news never seems to be possible without bad news, too. In the operation to free the hostages, Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, 36, was killed by terrorist fire.
According to the Times of Israel: “On October 7, Zmora himself had led a battle against Hamas near the border community of Yad Mordechai, killing dozens of terrorists and preventing them from infiltrating the kibbutz. After that battle, Zmora was also involved in fighting terrorists at the Nahal Oz base and at Kibbutz Be’eri.”
This man seems to have been a fearless powerhouse who saved countless lives. He is survived by his parents and siblings, his wife and two children. His wife Michal wrote on Facebook:
“Now, everything is filled with the image of the late hero Arnon Zmora. But long before he was a warrior and a hero he was a sweet and charming man. A wonderful partner, a perfect father. A loving and beloved man. This is how we will remember him, and we hope you will too.”
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The operation was renamed “Operation Arnon” in his memory. At his funeral, thousands paid tribute. Fly free, Arnon, and thank you for everything you did for us. 🧡🦋
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Update 16/1/24
This is an update on the situation of Noa Argamani and Yossi Sharabi.
On January 14, Hamas released a video showing Noa, Yossi and another hostage, Itay Svirsky.
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They read off a script obviously written by Hamas, telling Israel to stop the war and to save them. The same thing was said in earlier videos of other hostages. The message is always the same: stop the war, or we will kill your hostages. But never: if you stop the war, we will release the hostages and negotiate. Because that is not what their goal is.
To understand this, you must realize the fundamental reason of Hamas’ existence is jihad: a holy war against everything that isn’t radical Islam, and especially Jews. This principle trumps everything, even the lives of the Gazan people, peace and a chance for their own state. This kind of thinking is so alien to us in the West that we cannot believe this is really their mindset. I couldn’t believe it for twenty years living in Israel. Until October 7.
At the end of this video, Hamas showed this:
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This is psychological warfare of the highest degree. The entire country is in mental and emotional anguish. It is very, very hard to deal with this kind of cruelty. It is a game that they play, to inflict the worst pain on us. They know we care desperately about these people. They also know that we cannot do this sort of things back to them – it goes against every principle of humanity. Also, they would laugh at us. They don’t care! They care about exterminating Jews and establising the Islamic State. At any cost. Even if every single Palestinian has to die for it.
How do you negotiate with people like that? You can’t. It’s impossible. The only thing they want is our death. That is why we have to conquer Hamas. If we fail, we will not only sign our own death warrant, but Europe’s, too.
Yesterday, 15/1/24, Hamas released another video. This time, it was only of Noa, who told us that Yossi and Itay were dead. According to the script she read, they were killed in an Israeli airstrike. We don’t know if this is true or if they were simply murdered by Hamas. At the end of the video, they showed two bloody and broken bodies. It was impossible to tell who they were. I haven’t watched it. But this is what I heard.
For all of their families, the excruciating pain goes on. They don’t know anything for sure. All they have is questions, which won’t be answered. Noa is alive, for now. I think that the civilians who captured her, sold her to Hamas. And they know that Noa one of the most famous hostages and that she is precious to us. They can use her as leverage. Although what they want from us is impossible.They want for Israel to cease existing and for every Jew to die. We obviously cannot let that happen.
The only thing we can hope is that the IDF will conquer Hamas, find the hostages and bring them home. Soon. Then, we can talk with the Gazans and see how to move on from here. But not before.
#bringthemhome
Noa Argamani – abducted by civilians
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This is Noa Argamani. She is 26 years old and studies engineering. She is the beloved only child of Israeli-born Yacov and Chinese-born Liora Argamani. Noa is close to all of our hearts because of her remarkable beauty, the terrifying video of her abduction and the heartbreaking story of her mother. She is also my friend’s cousin. I have to start with Noa, because to me, she embodies all that is good, and kind, and beautiful. All that was destroyed and torn away from us by Hamas.
Noa was at a party that day, with her boyfriend Avinatan Or. They went to a music festival called Supernova, in the Negev desert. They sang and danced, laughed and enjoyed themselves with friends. Until suddenly, the music stopped, the sirens started wailing and hell broke open, spewing out masked men with guns, on motorcycles and in jeeps, driving into the crowd at full speed, shooting at everyone they saw, screaming “Allahu akhbar!!”
Panicked people fled in all directions. The masked men chased after them and emptied their weapons at them, shooting innocent, unarmed young people in the back. Noa and Avinatan ran for their lives, terrified and in shock.
But the terrorists caught up with them. Five, ten men jumped at Noa and Avinatan. Two men pulled Noa on a motorcycle, while the others held Avinatan down. Noa cried and screamed: “No, no, don’t kill me!” But the kidnappers laughed at her and drove away with her. She stretched out her arms to Avinatan, who was being taken away by a group of men, and who could do nothing but stare after her in terror.
We have this footage because the terrorists filmed it and uploaded it on TikTok. Yes, they were proud of what they did. They were full of glee. They took pleasure in killing, torturing, raping and kidnapping unarmed young people at a music festival. The following pictures are stills from the footage.
This is the last anyone saw of Avinathan Or. He is presumed taken hostage. Noa was seen later on in Gaza in other footage, so she is known to be a hostage.
Noa’s parents, friends and family are beside themselves with worry. Noa’s mother, Liora, is suffering from terminal brain cancer. She is afraid of dying without ever seeing her daughter again.
I didn’t know what true evil was, until I saw the footage and heard the stories of the supernova music festival. Now, I know what evil looks like. It is hundreds of bloodthirsty men, firing into a crowd, chasing fleeing people, laughing and shouting “Allahu akhbar!!” while grabbing, raping, murdering and abducting young girls.
At the moment I am writing this, two months after the “black shabbath” as we call it, a number of children and women have been released from captivity. But not Noa. Where are you, Noa? What are they doing to you? Are you alive, are you hurt, are you suffering? Our hearts are bound to you and to Avinatan, and to your parents. We pray that Liora will see her beloved daughter again before she leaves this world.
We love you, Noa and Avinatan. #bringthemhome.
Edit 3/1/24
It has come to light that the men who abducted Noa Argamani were not Hamas members. They were Gazan civilians who followed Hamas through the gates on October 7 and blazed a trail through Israel, looting, killing and raping. And abducting pretty young girls as trophies. If you watch the videos, it is clear. These men do not wear hoods and their faces are clearly visible. They do not carry automatic weapons and ammunition belts. It is absolutely sickening and enraging. Nobody knows where they’re hiding Noa and what they’re doing to her. But somebody must know these men. Someone knows who they are and where they are keeping Noa and the other girls who have not been returned.
Edit 17/1/24
On January 14, Noa appeared in a video released by Hamas, together with two other hostages: Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky. They were forced to say that Israel should stop the war or they would be killed. At the end of the video, Hamas gave us a nice little game, to guess who was going to be murdered that night.
Noa was the only one who survived this demonic game. My guess is the civilians who abducted her, sold her to Hamas. Hamas knows how famous and beloved Noa is. They use her as a pawn to force us to do what they want.
So Noa is alive, for now. God help her. 💔
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