A couple separated and taken hostage by Hamas from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, were reunited Monday after more than two years apart.
Avinatan Or was released from captivity after two years and was reunited with his partner, Noa Argamani, who had also been held hostage in Gaza. Footage posted on social media showed Or getting out of a van and waving to supporters upon his release.
Other videos showed him reuniting with his parents.
‘Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or are reunited at last,’ an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) post on X stated, accompanied by an image of Or kissing Argamani on the cheek.
Argamani, a 27-year-old Israeli student born in China, was rescued in June 2024 during an IDF operation after eight months in Hamas captivity.
Video footage of Argamani being abducted at the festival and screaming while being taken on a motorcycle into Gaza quickly went viral and spread across the globe. Argamani’s mother, who was suffering from brain cancer when her daughter was kidnapped, worried she would not see her again.
Three weeks after Argamani was rescued, her mother passed away.
After her release, Argamani advocated for the release of the remaining hostages.
‘Being here today is a miracle, but I’m here to tell you we have no time,’ Argamani told the U.N. Security Council in February. She spoke about witnessing horrors, not receiving medical care, and being held in dire conditions.
Monday’s return of the remaining hostages in Gaza came after President Donald Trump secured a peace deal with Hamas following more than two years of fighting between the terror group and Israel.
On Monday, he traveled to Egypt, where he and several world leaders signed a historic Gaza peace plan following a summit.
The president called it a ‘tremendous day for the world’ and a ‘tremendous day for the Middle East.’