Noa Argamani, one of four hostages rescued by Israeli forces after being kidnapped during a deadly Hamas attack on Oct. 7, is pictured in this undated publicity photo.
Take them home now | Reuters
On Saturday, Israeli security forces rescued four hostages in a daylight raid in central Gaza, including Noa Agramani, who became the spokesman for the hostages taken on October 7. heartbreaking video Her abduction was witnessed around the world.
The hostages have been transferred to the Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center near Tel Aviv, where authorities said they were in “good health.”
According to a statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Securities Authority and the Israeli police, the rescued hostages were identified as 25-year-old Agamani, 21-year-old Almog Meir Young, 27-year-old Andre Koz Love and 40-year-old Shlomi Ziv.
They were one of the kidnapped people Hamas During this period Rising Star Music Festival October 7th.
The news was greeted with enthusiasm in Israel. On a beach in Tel Aviv, crowds cheered as lifeguards read their names over a loudspeaker.
A video circulating on social media showed Agamani reunited with his father. After her rescue, she also had a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I’m excited,” she said. “I haven’t spoken Hebrew in a long time.”
Yan Gorjaltsan, a friend of Agamani’s from her hometown of Beersheba, told NBC News that he and a group of friends were traveling to Tel Aviv to visit her. “These are the happiest days of our lives,” he said. “You can’t believe how we feel.”
The rescue operation comes amid growing pressure on Netanyahu to reach a deal to release the hostages, with thousands holding regular protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The Hostage Families Forum, which advocates for the release of the hostages, called the rescue a “miraculous” victory, adding that the government should “bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas” and calling on Hamas to accept the ceasefire agreement. Joe Agreement proposed by President Biden.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called the rescue operation “a light in the terrible darkness” and welcomed the hostages back.
The roughly 10-second video of Agamani, a data science engineering student, screaming as she was taken away from the back of a motorcycle became emblematic of Israel’s hostage crisis.
For her loved ones, the effort to free her was a race against time as her mother, Leola, suffered from terminal brain cancer. Agamani was 26 years old during his captivity. her boyfriend, Avinathan AurBelieved to be still in Gaza.
According to the Times of Israel, Almog Meir Jan had retired from the military a few months before the attack. He tried to escape the festival with a friend but only made it a short distance before being captured.
Shlomi Ziv, who works as a security guard in Nova, called his sisters as he tried to escape.
Andrei Kozlov recently moved to Israel from Russia and has been working as a security guard at the festival.
This is a developing breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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