Israeli Military Rescues Noa Argamani, Three Others from Gaza

Israeli security forces saved four people who held captive in central Gaza on Saturday, during a daylight operation. Among those rescued was Noa Argamani, who widely known after a distressing video of her taken on October 7 circulated globally.

The rescued hostages moved to the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center near Tel Aviv. According to authorities, they are in ‘good medical condition.

According to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Securities Authority, and the Israel Police, the rescued hostages are Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40.

The news of their rescue met with joy in Israel. In Tel Aviv, people on the beach cheered as lifeguards announced the names of the rescued hostages over a loudspeaker, one by one.

A video shared on social media showed Noa Argamani reuniting with her father. After her rescue, she also had a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I am very excited, she said. I did not spoken Hebrew in such a long time.

Yan Gorjaltsan, a friend of Noa Argamani from their hometown of Be’er Sheva, told NBC News that he and a group of friends were on their way to Tel Aviv to see her. This is the happiest day of our lives, he said. You can not imagine our feeling.

The rescue happened as pressure was growing on Netanyahu to make a deal for the release of the hostages. Thousands of people were protesting regularly in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, demanding action.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which works to free hostages, praised the rescue operation as a “miraculous” success. They urged the government to secure the release of the remaining 120 hostages still held by Hamas. They also called on Hamas to agree the cease fire plan proposed by President Joe Biden.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the rescue as “a great light in a terrible darkness” and warmly welcomed the hostages back home.

Argamani, a student studying data science engineering, seen in a video screaming while being taken away on a motorcycle. This short clip, lasting about 10 seconds, became a powerful symbol of the hostage crisis in Israel.

For Argamani’s family, the efforts to free her felt like a race against time, especially since her mother, Liora, is suffering from terminal brain cancer. Argamani celebrated her 26th birthday while in captivity. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, believed to still be in Gaza.

Almog Meir Jan had completed his military service several months before the attack, as reported by the Times of Israel. During the festival, he attempted to escape with a friend, but they were only able to go a short distance before he captured.

Shlomi Ziv employed as a security guard at Nova. He tried to escape during the attack and managed to call his sisters while doing so.

Andrey Kozlov had recently immigrated to Israel from Russia. He, too, was working as a security guard at the festival when the incident occurred.

Saturday’s operation marked the second successful rescue of hostages by the IDF from Gaza since October 7th. In February, two hostages also rescued from the southern city of Rafah in a nighttime mission.

In May, search teams recovered the bodies of three hostages from the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.

My knowledge cut off date is January 2022. That time Hamas designated as a terrorist organization by several countries including Israel, the United States and the European Union, among others.