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full screen Former hostage Noa Argamani receives applause as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a congressional hearing in Washington, July 24, 2024. Photo: Julia Nikhinson/AP
Noa Argamani, 26, was released after 8 months as a hostage in Gaza – now she criticizes the Israeli media.
She believes that they turned on her speech about her time as a hostage.
– As a victim of October 7, I refuse to be victimized once again by the media.
Noa Argamani became the face of Israeli hostages after a video of her abduction on October 7 was caught on film. In the video shared on social media, she screams “Don’t kill me” as she is taken away on a motorcycle.
On June 8, she was freed along with three other hostages who were rescued during an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah refugee camps in Gaza. The release of the four hostages resulted in the killing of more than 200 Palestinians, according to Reuters.
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full screen Here, Noa Argamani is taken away from southern Israel during the attack on October 7. Photo: AP
A little more than two months after she was released, she spoke about her time as a hostage during a meeting with diplomats from G7 countries in Tokyo on Wednesday.
“A miracle that I’m here”
During the meeting, Noa says that it is a miracle that she even participates in the meeting.
– It’s a miracle because I survived on October 7, and I survived the bombing, and I also survived the rescue, she said.
During the meeting, she spoke about her boyfriend, Avinatan, who is still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
– We have to take them back before it’s too late, she said.
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full screenYakov Argamani hugs his daughter. Photo: Tsafrir Abayov / AP
After his daughter’s abduction on October 7, Argamani’s father spoke to the Middle East Eye news site and prayed for peace and an end to the suffering of both the prisoners and the Palestinians in Gaza.
– We must stop this killing between us and them so that there can be real peace between these two countries once and for all, he said then.
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full screen Noa Argamani, 26, became a symbol of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. Photo: Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Damaged by Israeli airstrike
On Friday, two days after the meeting, she took to Instagram and criticized the Israeli media’s use of her speech in Tokyo.
– I cannot ignore what has happened here in the last 24 hours, that my words have been taken out of context, she wrote.
She further wrote that Hamas members did not beat her while in captivity, nor did they cut her hair as reported. In the statement, Noa clarifies that she had “cuts” all over her head when she was injured when a wall collapsed after an Israeli airstrike.
– As a victim of October 7, I refuse to be exposed once again by the media, she concludes the post.