An Israeli couple who were abducted during the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks have been reunited, two years after they were violently split up.
Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or were seized at the Nova music festival. Video of Ms Argamani being dragged away in terror on the back of a motorbike became one of the most widely recognised images of the attacks.
She was rescued by Israeli commandos on 8 June 2024. Mr Or, who was held separately in central Gaza, was released on Monday – one of 20 living hostages to be returned as part of the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump.
In a post on Instagram, Ms Argamani said the couple could now begin “healing together”.
After reuniting, Israeli media said the pair shared their “first cigarette together after two years”.
A day after her partner’s release, Ms Argamani shared an emotional Instagram post alongside their first photos together since 2023.
“Two years since the last moment I saw Avinatan, my love. Two years since terrorists kidnapped us, put me on a motorcycle, and tore us apart in front of the whole world,” she wrote.
She said she had been held with other women and children inside houses during her captivity, “while Avinatan was only in the tunnels”.
“Hamas released videos and signs of life from me, while there was no information at all about Avinatan,” the post, in Hebrew, continued.
She said the pair could now begin their recovery.
“We won our personal war and the whole world’s fight with us to get to this moment, and now it’s time for us to begin our shared journey together,” the post said.
Ms Argamani also thanked Trump for his part in bringing the hostages home and helping them “overcome the darkness”.
Mr Or’s father told Israeli media about the conditions his son had been kept in – food supplies which were “meagre” and a lot of time alone, chained up in tunnels and small enclosures during his 738 days in captivity.
He said his son – who is around 2m (6ft 5in) tall – was held at one point in a space just 1.8m high, and just slightly longer than the mattress he slept on.
“He’s extremely thin,” Yaron Or told reporters, adding that his son had had “no books, no human contact – nothing”, but was given a Rubik’s Cube at one point.
He was given very little information about the outside world, including the whereabouts of his girlfriend or the full scope of the Hamas attacks and subsequent Israeli offensive.
“Around him were guards whose relatives had been killed in IDF [Israel Defense Forces] strikes, I think it’s simply a miracle they didn’t harm him, except for one time he tried to escape,” the senior Mr Or said.
Avinatan Or reportedly tried to escape whilst being moved through a tunnel but was captured and beaten for the attempt.
“He’s sharing things gradually, we’re not asking directly,” his father said.
“Physically, he still needs to recover,” he continued.
“But mentally, thank God, he’s the same Avinatan – same humour, same strength.”
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