The terrified father of the kidnapped Israeli student caught on video being brutally manhandled on a motorcycle after attending a rave near the Gaza Strip revealed that he feared the worst when he received a strange message from her boyfriend — only to have his worst nightmare confirmed by the distressing video.
“I was hoping that this was a mistake. That it was not true. It was Noa. She was so petrified. I was always so protective, but in this moment I couldn’t protect her.” — The father of Noa Argamani, 25, who was kidnapped from a music festival in Israel by Hamas militants pic.twitter.com/9xkzfgyHtJ
— Sarah Raviani (@sarahraviani) October 8, 2023
Noa Argamani’s father, Yaakov Argamani, shared through tears that he was praying for the 25-year-old’s safe return after she was kidnapped from a trance music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, where Hamas militants opened fire and launched rockets into the crowd.
“I tried to contact her from the second we heard the [rocket] sirens,” he told Channel 12, according to The Times of Israel.
According to Argamani, that answer seemed strange, prompting him to head to the hospital to see if he could learn anything that way.
“I went to one of the offices and was informed that she was not injured. While on the phone, her roommate contacted us, and said that there was a video of her on a motorcycle and she was kidnapped and taken to Gaza,” Argamami said.
“I had hoped that he was wrong, that it was not true, and then in the emergency room, a guy approached me and told me there was a video if I wanted to see her.”
“I asked to see and then I saw that it was definitely her. She was so scared, so frightened. I always protected her, and at this very moment I couldn’t,” he cried. “I pray that everyone will return.”
Distressing footage emerged of Argamani screaming for help, yelling “Don’t kill me!” and “No, no, no,” as she was carted away on a Palestinian gunman’s motorcycle while her boyfriend, Avinatan, can be seen being manhandled by terrorists.
Moshe Or reported his brother, Avinatan, as missing before he was shown the horrifying video footage of him and Argamani.
“I was worried and tried to call them, but his phone was not available and neither was hers. After a few hours, emergency services contacted us and told us that they saw a video of my brother and his girlfriend Noa taken hostage toward the Strip,” he said.
Other footage appears to show Argamani in Gaza.
The death toll in the surprise attack, which was the worst onslaught Israel faced in 50 years, rose to at least 600 on Sunday and at least 2,000 were wounded, officials said.
On Sunday, the security cabinet in Israel officially voted to declare war — the first since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already referred to Israel being “at war” Saturday, but the security cabinet decision unlocks “significant military activities,” the prime minister’s office said.
Noa was partying in the south of Israel in a peace music festival when Hams terrorists kidnapped her and dragged her from Israel into Gaza.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 7, 2023
Noa is held hostage by Hamas.
She could be your daughter, sister, friend.#BringBackOurFamily pic.twitter.com/gi2AStVdTQ
