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An Israeli hostage has reunited with the ‘Juliet’ to his ‘Romeo’ after being one among the 20 captives released by Hamas yesterday.
Avinatan Or, 32, was abducted alongside his partner, Noa Argamani, from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Footage shows gunmen dragging him across a field while his girlfriend was taken to Gaza on the back of a motorbike as she screamed.
Noa, 26, was free of a house in central Gaza in June last yr, one among 4 saved by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
But yesterday afternoon, the Israeli government released footage of the pair reuniting after greater than two years.
The video showsAvinatan, an electronics engineer, entering the house on the Re’im crossing to be greeted by his mother, Ditza. The pair hug and kiss as Ditza will be heard chanting the Jewish ‘shehecheyanu’ blessing.
He’s guided right into a bedroom, where he falls straight into the arms of Noa.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also shared an image showing Avinatan kissing his partner’s cheek while Noa smiles.
The military said: ‘Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or reunited ultimately.
Avinatan was a member of the Sayeret Matkal, sometimes called ‘The Unit’, an Israeli Special Forces unit wherein Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also served.
Israel’s equivalent of the SAS is usually tasked with counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, with Avinatan role in it being hidden for years over security fears.
A report by the Israeli Channel 12 said that Avinatan was held in isolation and didn’t encounter every other hostages – he lost about 30% of his body weight.
He only learned of Noa’s release as a part of an IDF rescue operation yesterday.
Noa became one among the loudest voices calling for the discharge of the remaining hostages after she was freed last yr.
In a speech to US Cabinet members and White House officials on the two-year anniversary of October 7, she said: ‘Avinatan and I got here to the Nova music festival simply to have fun our life.
‘We found ourselves within the darkest tunnels of Gaza. I cannot even begin to explain those terrible pictures.’
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She recalled asking desperately around within the Re’im forest after Hamas militants descended, killing some 380 people, if anyone had seen Avinatan.
‘I didn’t know if it was murdered or kidnapped, and I used to be afraid to know the reply,’ she said.
‘I’m not the identical individual that I was once… I saw it occur in front of my eyes, two of my friends that were with me since October 7 were murdered in captivity.
‘Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky were brutally murdered and executed and I survived.’
Bring Them Home Now, a campaign group, described Avinatan as a ‘man surrounded by friends, who knows how you can cook and bake’.
‘An excellent, generous and kind-hearted guy. A “classic” older brother who helps out at home and might at all times be relied on,’ it added in an X post following his release.
Hamas released the last remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza yesterday, a part of a cease-fire deal reached between Israel and the Palestinian group.
Israel welcomed the hostages home after it freed nearly 2,000 people from Israeli prisoners.
World leaders, mediators and civilians alike hope the deal will result in the top of a war that has gouged the Palestinian region.
As of yesterday, Gaza’s health ministry says Israel has killed nearly 68,000 people since October 7.
Famine has been declared within the besieged strip, and a years-long Israeli blockade means fuel, food and medicine are few and much between.
In keeping with Hamas, which governs Gaza, 173 aid trucks entered the coastal enclave on Sunday.
‘We note that the quantities that entered are still very limited and represent a drop within the ocean of needs, and don’t meet lower than the minimum humanitarian and living needs of greater than 2.4million people within the Gaza Strip,’ it added on Telegram.
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