Rescued Israeli hostage says she thought every night in captivity might be her last

A young Israeli woman who became emblematic of the hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 said Wednesday she thought every night in captivity could be her last.

“Every night I was falling asleep and thinking, ‘This may be the last night of my life,'” Noa Argamani said in Japan on a visit with her father.

“And until the moment I was (rescued) … I just did not believe that I’m still surviving,” the 26-year-old said as she met with senior diplomats from G7 countries in Tokyo. “And in this moment that I’m still sitting with you, it’s a miracle that I’m here.”

Argamani was among those kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the Islamists’ October 7 attacks that sparked war with Israel.

A video that went viral showed her on the back of a motorbike screaming: “Don’t kill me!”

The video showed her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, an engineer, being led away separately.

Israeli special forces freed Argamani in a raid on Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp on June 8 along with three others — Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that it had retrieved the bodies of six hostages from tunnels in southern Gaza, at least some of whom the military said were killed in Israeli military operations.

Of the roughly 250 people taken hostage that day, at least 100 are believed still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 34 the military says are dead.

“Avinatan, my boyfriend, is still there, and we need to bring them back before it’s going to be too late. We don’t want to lose more people than we already lost,” said Argamani.