Noa Argamani recounts harrowing Gaza captivity at Herzog's residence

Neither the Red Cross nor doctors came to the aid of Noa Argamani when she had been wounded in captivity, the former hostage said at an emergency discussion regarding the hostages’ medical conditions, called by President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday for International Human Rights Day.

Almost immediately after the October 7 massacre, medical professionals dealing with mental as well as physical health issues began to worry about the effects of captivity on the hostages who had been taken to Gaza.

While the victims of October 7 were being treated first by paramedics and then in hospitals for their wounds, it was not as easy to immediately diagnose their mental conditions.

Those who had fought against Hamas while witnessing the cruelest and most brutal atrocities perpetrated against their loved ones, friends, and neighbors have suffered various forms of trauma that are not always obvious but, if untreated, can become lifelong torture.

Herzog, at his many meetings with returned hostages, families of hostages, people involved in rescue operations, physicians, negotiators, and others, thought that the whole subject should be discussed from the different perspectives of the people involved and chose to bring them together at the President’s Residence.

Argamani’s remarks came as she showed the audience a video published in January in which she appeared in captivity.

“An Air Force missile hit a building,” in which she said she was present along with Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky.

“As you know, Yossi did not survive. Two days later, Itai Svirsky was murdered, and just this week, his body was returned to Israel,” Argamani said.

“I was left injured – I was left wounded, as you can see in the full video,” she added, noting she had been left “bleeding, with my entire head open, and no one came to help me. Not the Red Cross, not doctors, no one.”

Upon returning to Israel, she said the doctors who saw her wounds said the fact that she was alive “was a medical miracle.”

“I don’t know how many hostages are still there who suffered similar situations to mine,” she further stated, asserting, “We don’t know the condition of the 100 hostages still there, and their fate might be worse than mine.”

Argamani was taken hostage and was held in the Gaza Strip along with Sharabi and Svirsky.Svirsky was taken captive on October 7 from Kibbutz Be’eri. The IDF’s position is that he was murdered by Hamas. Last week, his body was recovered from the Gaza Strip in a joint IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation.

In February, the IDF published the results of a probe it conducted regarding Sharabi’s death, concluding that the Israel Air Force attack on Hamas in central Gaza may have accidentally also killed him.

Argamani was rescued on June 8 during an operation in Nuseirat in Gaza, along with Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv.

The operation was later named “Operation Arnon” after Ch.-Insp. Arnon Zamora, the single Israeli casualty during the operation.

THE DISCUSSION at the President’s Residence was dominated by physicians from different medical disciplines and different fields of practice. But they didn’t live up to the traditional belief of two Jews, three opinions.

They were in total agreement with each other over the urgency of bringing the hostages home immediately because it was unlikely that they could last another winter, especially taking into account their malnutrition, isolation, and the humiliation and abuse they suffered. And, of course, the bitter cold.

Public health physician Dr. Hagai Levine said that extreme weight loss was a severe problem in that it pointed to a weakened immune system, loss of energy, and sleep irregularities.

“Every section of the body is affected,” he said, underscoring that up to 50% of the body suffers weight loss and that this, in turn, can affect the brain. Both he and other doctors spoke of what lack of medication and water can do to people who are chronically ill and voiced fears that all people in this category are in danger of death.

'The body cannot withstand such long deprivation'

“The body cannot withstand such long deprivation,” said Dr. Amir Bloumenfeld, which is why the immediate return home of the hostages is imperative. Those who were released just over a year ago returned with a lot of mental problems, he said, and their rehabilitation period has been a very long process. “Some children are afraid to speak.”

One of the therapies used to help returned hostages or people who survived the massacre is dancing. The music helps to reduce tensions and inhibitions.

Dr. Oren Aran, a family doctor from the Gaza border communities, said that communities in the area have been negatively impacted, and there is a 20% increase in the need for medicines and also a sharp rise in alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. Many people, including children, are depressed, and a lot of children are afraid to sleep alone and so sleep with their parents.

In addition, chronic illnesses are getting worse.

Although political issues were less evident than they usually are in discussions about the hostages, they were not ignored.

For more than a year now, Herzog has been calling for the hostages to be brought home. Due to his position, he cannot openly criticize the government, but based on the number of hostage-related events that he has hosted or attended and the fact that he consistently calls for their return, there is little doubt that he, too, would like to see the government do more.

There are currently 100 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.