Disturbing videos from Israel show innocent citizens, including women, children and the elderly, being taken hostage by Hamas, which is on the US list of terrorist organizations, as it invaded the country on Saturday. In one video, a woman screams for help with her arm outstretched as she is taken away on a motorcycle. She is Noa Argamani, a university student who was attending the Supernova music festival in southern Israel when the Palestinian militants began their attack.
Argamani’s father Yaakov said he was in disbelief at the images he saw. “She is an amazing person. A sweet child,” he told CBS News foreign correspondent Holly Williams in Hebrew.
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Asked what he thought the Israeli government should do to get his daughter back, Argamani said: “Only through peaceful measures.”
“We have to approach it sensitively,” he said. “They also have mothers who cry. The same goes for us.”
The video of Noa being captured was widely shared on social media. “Her name is Noa,” many shared in the caption, adding a name to the fearful face.
A screenshot from a social media video posted on October 7, 2023 shows Noa Argamani being taken hostage by Palestinian militants. Video obtained from Portal
Noa was taken away from her boyfriend, her family and boyfriend told Portal. “We all want to believe that it’s not the case, but you can’t deny it, you can’t deny it. It’s just her face, her clothes and it’s her boyfriend, you can see him very clearly, you can see very clearly that it’s like that.” “Her,” Noa’s friend Amit Parparia told the news agency.
“I don’t think anyone has ever felt so much fear and helplessness when you are taken away from your friend, from your loved ones, to a place where there are no terrorists,” Parparia said. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now, being in Gaza with these terrorists and waiting for someone to send help.”
After a surprise attack by Hamas, Israel orders a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip
The conflict between the Jewish state of Israel and Hamas has been turbulent for decades. But on Saturday, Hamas terrorists broke through the barrier on the Israel-Gaza border and launched an unprecedented attack, Williams reports. Gunmen killed civilians in the streets and kidnapped hostages, in some cases parading them in the streets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the Israeli military would destroy Hamas, which continued to fire more rockets on Monday. The death toll in both Israel and Palestine is more than 1,200. Nine Americans are among the dead.
Noa and her boyfriend were among hundreds of people at the festival in Re’im when Hamas gunmen opened fire. The city is located near the Gaza Strip, an area that is Palestinian territory.
Rocket fire, followed by gunfire, came out of nowhere, a witness told Israel’s Channel 12.
According to the Associated Press, medics have recovered around 260 bodies from the desert area – a number that is expected to rise, Israeli rescue service Zaka said.
Gal Levy, 22, escaped the attack but was shot in both legs and doesn’t know if he will walk again. Levy told CBS News’ Imtiaz Tyab he waited six hours for help. “I feel let down by the government. I feel let down by the army,” he said. “I lost about two liters of blood and after the guy who came – the terrorist to get us – I was really sure that was it. I’m going to die.”
Israel-Gaza conflict
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