October 7 · Personal story
Noa Argamani
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova Music Festival near Re’im, southern Israel
Current outcome
Rescued alive · June 8, 2024
Rescued by Israeli forces in Operation Arnon, a complex daytime operation in Nuseirat, Gaza.
01
Life before October 7
Before October 7, Noa Argamani’s life was moving along a route she had chosen for herself. She was due to begin her third year in information systems and software engineering at Ben-Gurion University. After army service she had worked, travelled through South America, and continued travelling alone between semesters, including in India and Sri Lanka. She said solo travel taught her to adapt to unfamiliar situations. University also gave her the busy social life she loved; she met Avinatan Or at a campus Purim party.
02
October 7
In the early hours of October 7, Noa and Avinatan went to the Nova music festival near Re’im after buying last-minute tickets the evening before. They arrived around 4 a.m., met friends, opened a small bar stand and went to dance. When rockets were seen, the music stopped and they left by car. Gunfire sent them back through crowded roads; bullets struck the ground as they searched for shelter. After hiding and fleeing, the car became stuck in sand. Armed men found them after hours in a ditch, tied Noa’s hands and took her away on a motorcycle, separating her from Avinatan.
03
In captivity
Noa spent 246 days in captivity. In her later interview she recalled being moved among houses, warehouses and tunnels and meeting children, women and older hostages. She kept asking whether anyone knew Avinatan, not knowing whether he had been taken or killed. She described an airstrike on a house where she was held: the building collapsed, leaving wounds across her body and open cuts on her head. She said she received no medical care and never saw a doctor. Her first public testimony in Tokyo conveyed the nightly uncertainty: she fell asleep thinking each night might be her last.
04
Return
On June 8, 2024, Israeli forces rescued Noa from a house in Nuseirat in the complex daytime operation later named Operation Arnon, for Yamam commander Arnon Zamora, who was fatally wounded. The IDF account says she had been held alone in one of two buildings; soldiers moved her under fire to a helicopter and then to Israel. She was one of four hostages rescued that day. At Sheba Medical Center, she reunited with her father. She later saw her mother Liora at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, where Liora was receiving cancer treatment. Liora died three weeks after the reunion.
05
Life after return
After rescue, Noa found herself recognized around the world because footage of her abduction had circulated while she was captive. She later said the sudden loss of privacy was difficult, yet she chose to speak for other hostages and their families. In August 2024 she travelled with her father to Tokyo to meet G7 diplomats; in 2025 she met US officials and addressed lawmakers. This advocacy belonged to the period when Avinatan Or was still captive. On October 13, 2025, Or was returned to Israel after 738 days, and the two were reunited. ABC reported that they described sharing their first cigarette together after two years apart.