Seoul Gazette - Reunited hostage describes stark differences in couple's Gaza captivity

"Two years passed since the last moment I saw Avinatan, the love of my life," Argamani, who was freed during an Israeli military operation in June 2024, said in a post on X.

Argamani, 28, described being separated from Avinatan Or from the moment they were abducted at the Nova music festival, in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, until Or's release on Monday.

Like several other hostages, Argamani was taken from the festival grounds in southern Israel to the Gaza Strip on the back of a motorcycle, she described in her post.

A widely circulated video at the time showed her being forcibly taken by armed men on a motorcycle, crying out for help as her boyfriend was led away separately on foot.

That footage became one of the most recognised images of the hostage-taking during the attack.

It was only after Or was released that he learnt Argamani had been freed over a year earlier.

According to Israel's Channel 12 television, Or lost 30 to 40 percent of his body weight and was kept in total isolation for two years.

"I was held captive with children, women, and the elderly, while Avinatan was held alone," Argamani said of her partner, who was 32 at the time of the abduction.

- 'Against all odds' -

"I was mostly kept inside houses, while Avinatan was only in the tunnels," Argamani wrote.

"I was held captive by Hamas for 246 days, while Avinatan was held for 738 days. I came back in a heroic rescue operation, and Avinatan returned in a deal," she said.

In her post, Argamani praised both the Israeli military for its efforts in Gaza and US President Donald Trump for securing a ceasefire deal.

"But both of us, against all odds, came home and were reunited!" she said.

"At last, we can begin our healing together. The recovery will be long; we still haven’t truly processed what has happened here over these past two years. But we won," Argamani said.

"And now, the time has come to begin our shared journey together."

Hamas is still holding the bodies of 24 hostages, which are expected to be returned under the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

"We will never forget the fallen and the murdered, and we will not stop fighting until every fallen soldier and hostage is brought home for a proper burial in Israel," Argamani said.

As Israelis awaited the return of the remaining bodies, the hostages released on Monday were gradually recovering.

Noa Eliakim Raz, director at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, where some of the surviving hostages are being treated, explained that being underground, as the hostages had been, "affects all the body's systems".

A.Uhm--SG