The mother of rescued Israeli hostage Noa Argamani has died of brain cancer after spending her final days with her daughter.
Liora Argamani’s death comes just over three weeks after Noa was freed from Hamas captivity and brought home by Israeli special forces.
Noa’s plight made headlines around the world after the 26-year-old was abducted from the Nova festival on October 7, with disturbing footage showing terrorists taking her on the back of a motorbike towards Gaza.
Her mother, 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.
After finally being reunited with her in June, Liora “spent her final days with 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 today.
Her rescuers saw Noa being led to a car before being flown out of Gaza by military helicopter and returned safely to a hospital in Ramat Gan.
Noa Argamani, then 25, was seen abducted on the back of a motorbike during the horrific attacks on 7 October.
Noa was able to celebrate her father Yakov’s birthday after spending more than seven months in Hamas captivity
“We convey the family’s request to respect their privacy at this difficult time,” Tel Aviv’s Icholov Hospital said in a statement.
Israeli troops rescued Noa and three other hostages after 245 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.
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 said yes, ‘that’s why we came, to take you back to your mother.’
Emotional scenes showed Noa reunited with her father Yakov on her birthday, the first time in more than half a year that they had seen each other since her capture.
Noa smiles as she sips a Coca Cola with her father Yakov after meeting again last month
A video purportedly showing Noa in captivity in Gaza circulated on social media.
Liora Argamani, Noa’s mother, had contacted US President Joe Biden to urge him to help rescue her daughter (pictured, November 2023).
She was photographed hugging her father as she reintegrated into civilian life, enjoying a Coca-Cola and smiling and laughing as she spoke to friends and loved ones.
Within hours, she was rushed to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center to see her mother. According to reports at the time, the two would be treated together at the hospital.
After their reunion, doctors said Liora “believed that Liora understood” that her daughter was safe, but was unable to express her feelings.
Describing the reunion, Noa’s father, Yaakov, said: “Unfortunately, her mother is in a very difficult situation. They met, but it was very difficult.”
Over the weekend, a much healthier Noa spoke out in a video shared by the Missing Hostages and Families Forum.
This is the moment Noa Argamani, who was kidnapped by Hamas motorcyclists on October 7, was reunited with her father.
In the touching two-minute video shown on a giant screen in central Tel Aviv, Noa shared her deep concern for her parents during their eight months of captivity.
“As the only child of my parents, and the daughter of a terminally ill mother, my biggest concern in captivity was for my parents,” she said.
“It is a great privilege to be here after 246 days of captivity at the hands of Hamas. It is a great privilege to be by my mother’s side after eight months of uncertainty.
‘It is a great privilege to see my parents surrounded by so many good people.’
She also called for “everything possible” to be done to free those still trapped in Gaza, including her boyfriend.
Noa Argamani spoke in a video released Saturday after her June 8 rescue from Hamas.
‘I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are still 120 hostages being held by Hamas. Among them is Avinatan Or, my companion, from whom I was separated at the time of the kidnapping.’
Hamas led a bloody raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,170 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
The group has justified the attack as a response to what it called Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
Horrifying scenes showed Hamas and other factions wielding Kalashnikov-style assault rifles as they stormed towns and a music festival in Israel.
In the months since then, Israel has bombarded the densely populated Gaza Strip with airstrikes, displacing the vast majority of the population.
Some 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, severe hunger is widespread and U.N. officials say parts of the territory are facing famine.
Nearly 38,000 people are reported to have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Israel has declared that its war aims are to return the hostages and definitively destroy Hamas.
Israel has faced criticism from its allies over civilian casualties and failure to return hostages after nearly nine months of fighting.