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Hostage Noa Argamani rescued in time to see terminally ill mother

 
 Noa Argamani, a rescued hostage embraces her father, Yakov Argamani, after the military said that Israeli forces have rescued four hostages alive from the central Gaza Strip, in Ramat Gan, Israel, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on June 8, 2024. (photo credit: VIA REUTERS)
Noa Argamani, a rescued hostage embraces her father, Yakov Argamani, after the military said that Israeli forces have rescued four hostages alive from the central Gaza Strip, in Ramat Gan, Israel, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on June 8, 2024.
(photo credit: VIA REUTERS)

Hospital CEO Ronni Gamzu said the mother's condition was "complicated and tough."

Hours after being rescued from eight months captivity in Gaza, rescued hostage Noa Argamani arrived at a hospital in Tel Aviv to see her terminally ill mother.

Argamani, 26, was one of the most recognized faces among the hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7. Harrowing footage of her being taken into Gaza on the back of a motorcycle, pleading for her life and reaching desperately towards her boyfriend being marched alongside her on foot circulated across the globe.

Argamani's boyfriend Avinatan Or is still in captivity.

Argamani was rescued on Saturday, along with three other hostages, in an operation by Israeli special forces from an apartment building in central Gaza.

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"I'm so happy to be here," she said in a phone call with Israel's president upon her return, smiling and surrounded by friends and family.

 Liora Argamani, mother of hostage Noa Argamani, 26, who was filmed as she was being abducted during the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, is interviewed, in Tel Aviv, Israel November 23, 2023. (credit: REUTERS)
Liora Argamani, mother of hostage Noa Argamani, 26, who was filmed as she was being abducted during the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, is interviewed, in Tel Aviv, Israel November 23, 2023. (credit: REUTERS)

She was later met with cheers upon arrival at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center where her mother, Liora, was being treated for terminal brain cancer.

Mother is at the Sourasky Medical Center

Back in October, shortly after her daughter was abducted from a music festival turned killing field in southern Israel, Liora, sitting in a wheelchair, was asked in an interview with a local television station how she imagined their reunion.

"At least to be able to hug her," Liora answered.


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Hospital CEO Ronni Gamzu said the mother's condition was "complicated and tough." He said Argamani could communicate with her mother, who they believe understood that her daughter had come home.

"For the last eight months we are trying to keep her in a status that she can communicate," Gamzu said.

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Argamani's father, Yaakov, first met her after a military helicopter carried her back to Israel.

"Today is my birthday, and a gift like this I never believed I would get," he said.

More than 360 people were killed during the rampage at the Nova dance festival, and another 40 were taken hostage by Hamas, according to Israeli tallies.

Nearby the hospital in central Tel Aviv, at what has become known as hostage square, thousands of Israelis rallied to commemorate the rescue of the four hostages and to demand the release of more than 115 that remain in Gaza.

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