Police have released new footage today documenting the rescue of Noa Argamani from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, which took place a week ago.
The video, captured by a helmet camera, shows elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit members storming an apartment in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where the 26-year-old was being held.
“Everything is okay, Noa, we are taking you home,” an officer reassures Argamani in the footage. “You’re safe, we’re taking you to the vehicle.”
Inside the extraction vehicle, another officer is heard introducing the rescuers: “We are a group from the Yamam and the Shin Bet, we’re taking you home, we are very excited that you’re here, and we’re proud of you.”
Argamani responds: “I am very excited, just very scared about the journey.”
“Everything is okay, you are with us, it’s all okay,” an officer replies.
On Monday, Israel released additional footage of the rescue of Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, who were held at a different location nearby and freed during the same operation.
Argamani, Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were kidnapped from the Supernova music festival near Re’im on October 7, when approximately 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault in southern Israel.
The Yamam counter-terrorism unit and Shin Bet agents conducted simultaneous raids on two multi-story buildings in Nuseirat, where the hostages were held by Hamas-affiliated families and guards, according to the military.
Israeli sources report that Argamani’s rescue, who was held separately from the other three men, proceeded relatively smoothly under the circumstances. However, a significant gunfight erupted at the location where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were detained.
During the exchange, Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora was critically injured by Hamas fire and later succumbed to his wounds.
Hamas’s government media office claimed that at least 274 people were killed during the operation, though this figure has not been independently verified and does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The IDF has acknowledged the death of Palestinian civilians during the operation but placed responsibility on Hamas for taking hostages and engaging in combat within densely populated civilian areas. “We know about under 100 [Palestinian] casualties. I don’t know how many of them are terrorists,” IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari stated last week.
Argamani has become one of the most well-known faces among those abducted on October 7, largely due to a widely circulated video showing her being taken from the Nova music festival and separated from her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who remains in captivity.
Doctors treating the rescued hostages reported that they were suffering from malnutrition, had been regularly beaten, and experienced severe psychological distress during their captivity.
It is believed that 116 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, not all of them alive. This follows the release of 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages being released before that.
Seven hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 41 hostages still held by Hamas, based on new intelligence and findings from troops operating in Gaza. One more person remains missing since October 7, with their fate unknown.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.
{Matzav.com Israel}
