AN Israeli couple whose abduction by Hamas became one of the most haunting symbols of the October 7 massacre have finally been reunited.
Noa Argamani, 27, and her boyfriend Avinatan Or, 32, were seized from the Nova music festival in southern Israel in 2023.
Images of Noa screaming as she was dragged into Gaza on the back of a motorbike while reaching for Avinatan became one of the defining moments of the horror attack.
But this week, they were back in each other’s arms.
Video from the Re’im reception site shows Avinatan walking into a room and immediately embracing Noa, the pair clinging to each other after a harrowing 738 days apart.
The IDF shared a photo of him kissing her cheek as she smiled – a stark contrast to the terror captured in 2023.
Avinatan was among 20 hostages freed on Monday as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by US president Donald Trump.
Noa was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024 after 245 days in captivity.
Their reunion comes with a dramatic revelation: Avinatan is a member of Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite special forces unit modelled on the British SAS.
His identity had been kept secret throughout his captivity amid fears Hamas would retaliate if they learned who he was.
Reports in Israeli media say Avinatan was held in isolation for more than two years, never encountering other hostages.
Medical examinations show he lost between 30 and 40 per cent of his body weight after prolonged starvation in captivity.
After his release, he reportedly asked to spend time alone with Noa – and the two shared what they called their “first cigarette together after two years.”
Noa described the horror of their abduction in a speech in Washington last week, days before Avinatan’s release.
“Avinatan and I came to the Nova music festival just to celebrate our life,” she said.
“We found ourselves in the darkest tunnels of Gaza. I cannot even begin to describe those terrible pictures.”
She said she searched for information about him throughout her captivity.
“I asked about Avinatan everywhere I went,” she recalled.
“I didn’t know if he was murdered or kidnapped, and I was afraid to know the answer.”
Noa, a Chinese-born Israeli citizen, has campaigned for the release of hostages since her rescue.
When news broke that Avinatan was among those to be freed, she scrambled onto eight separate flights to return from Washington in time for his release.
Adding to the extraordinary turn of events, Avinatan’s employer revealed that his shares in NVIDIA had quadrupled while he was in captivity.
The company’s stock rose from $45.76 at the time of his abduction to $188.32 today.
Their reunion was one of several deeply emotional scenes on Monday as the 20 remaining living hostages were returned to Israel after more than two years underground.
Families who had campaigned for their return wept and embraced loved ones, some of whom appeared dramatically thinner and frailer than when they were taken.
Brothers David and Ariel Cunio were reunited with their partners Sharon and Arbel, while Omri Miran embraced his daughters – one of whom was just six months old when he was kidnapped.
“I’m on cloud nine,” said Omri’s father Danny.
“One moment I’m crying, the next I’m laughing.”
The hostage release follows a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal aimed at ending the two-year war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
It also paves the way for future stages including the disarmament of Hamas and the formation of a transitional government.
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent and the sirens are still,” Trump said in a speech at the Knesset.
