Freed Israeli hostage Noa Argamani held a party to “celebrate life” while paying tribute to her partner, who is still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Pictures show Noa dancing while wearing a yellow bikini at the party in Israel on Friday, with the 26-year-old telling her friends and family: “I’m happy to celebrate life itself with all of you.”
But Noa, who spent 246 days in captivity before being rescued by the Israel Defense Forces on June 8, also acknowledged that while she was partying, Hamas was still holding hostages, including her partner, Avinatan Or.
“It’s not ideal that we’re having this party while there’s still a war going on in the background,” she told attendees at the ‘Baila con Noa’ party, before adding that “we have to value every day of this life, we have to celebrate every moment that we’re here.”
Noa had made global headlines when she was filmed on the back of a motorcycle as it was dragged towards Gaza during Hamas’s incursion into Israel last October.
Pictures show Noa dancing while wearing a yellow bikini at the party in Israel on Friday, with the 26-year-old telling her friends and family: ‘I’m happy to celebrate life itself with all of you.’
“It’s not ideal that we’re having this party while there’s still a war going on in the background,” she told attendees at the ‘Baila con Noa’ party, before adding that “we have to value every day of this life, we have to celebrate every moment that we’re here” (pictured: Noa with a friend at the party)
Noa became the face of the October 7 attack after a powerful Mail on Sunday front page captured those final seconds as she approached Avinatan while screaming at her captors: “Don’t kill me!”
But Noa, who spent 246 days in captivity before being rescued by the Israel Defense Forces on June 8, also acknowledged that while she was partying, Hamas was still holding hostages, including her partner, Avinatan Or (pictured with Noa before the Oct. 7 attack).
Noa said he was celebrating the holiday for “his return to life” after spending nine months in Hamas captivity.
She became the face of the October 7 attack after a powerful Mail on Sunday front page captured those final seconds as she approached Avinatan while screaming at her captors: “Don’t kill me!”
Her mother, Liora, who had stage four cancer, feared she would not live long enough to see her daughter again and begged Hamas to release her and the Israeli and US governments to bring her home.
Noa’s father, Yaakov, who also attended the party on Friday, said he and his family, including Liora, had “really waited” for Noa until “God granted us our wish.”
After finally being reunited with her daughter in June, Liora “spent her final days alongside her daughter Noa, who returned from captivity, and her close family,” the hospital where she was being treated said in a statement announcing her death.
Last week, Noa spoke for the first time about her experience in captivity when… He met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.
She said: “It’s a miracle I’m here. Every night I fell asleep thinking this could be my last night alive.
Noa is sitting on the shoulders of a friend while dancing with her father Yaakov, who is also leaning on someone’s shoulders.
Noa said he was celebrating the holiday to mark his “return to life” after spending 246 days in Hamas captivity.
Her mother, Liora (right), who had stage four cancer, feared she would not live long enough to see her daughter again and pleaded with Hamas to release her and with the Israeli and US governments to bring her home.
Her father, Yaakov, who also attended the party on Friday, said he and his family, including Liora, had “really waited” for Noa until “God granted us our wish” (pictured: Yaakov and Noa hugging after she was rescued)
“They cut off my head and I was in pain all over. Nobody came to visit me. Nobody came to see me. Nobody came to give me medicine. Nobody, until they rescued me. It’s a war zone.”
She stepped up calls for the release of her boyfriend Avinatan and the remaining hostages, saying: “We have to bring them back before it is too late.”
Earlier this month, Noa revealed how she “fought until the very last moment” to stay “by the side” of the love of her life that day.
“I still can’t comprehend the fact that I’m here now and you, my beloved, are still there, living each day in endless fear,” she said.
Israeli troops rescued Noa and three other hostages after 246 days in the Gaza Strip in the largest and most successful rescue operation of the war on June 8.
Her rescuers saw Noa being led to a car before being flown out of Gaza in a military helicopter and returned safely to a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Three commandos from Yamam, Israel’s national anti-terror unit, involved in the rescue, revealed that the first thing Noa did upon being rescued was to ask about her mother.
Noa Argamani, a rescued hostage, hugs her father, Yakov Argamani, in this image obtained by Reuters on June 8, 2024.
Noa listens as Israel’s ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen (right) speaks during a meeting with G7 embassy representatives during a visit to Tokyo on August 21.
In an interview with Israeli magazine Walla, one of the commandos said: “His first question was whether his mother was still alive. I told him yes.
‘He looked at us left and right and asked again if we were sure. We told him yes, that’s why we came, to take you back to your mother.’
Despite the unfathomable trauma of having spent 246 days in captivity before losing her mother to brain cancer last month, Noa is using all her strength to fight for the release of Avinatan and the other hostages.
He recently traveled to Washington DC with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pressure politicians to work toward a deal.