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An Israeli hostage has reunited with the ‘Juliet’ to his ‘Romeo’ after being one of the 20 captives released by Hamas yesterday.
Avinatan Or, 32, was abducted alongside his partner, Noa Argamani, from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Footage shows gunmen dragging him across a field while his girlfriend was taken to Gaza on the back of a motorcycle as she screamed.
Noa, 26, was freed from a home in central Gaza in June 2023, one of four saved by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
But yesterday afternoon, footage was released by the Israeli government of the pair reunited after more than two years.
The video showsAvinatan, an electronics engineer, entering the home on the Re’im crossing to be greeted by his mother, Ditza. The pair hug and kiss as Ditza can be heard chanting the Jewish ‘shehecheyanu’ blessing.
He’s guided into a bedroom, where he falls straight into the arms of Noa.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also shared a picture showing Avinatan kissing his partner’s cheek while Noa smiles.
The military said: ‘Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or reunited at last.
Avinatan was a member of the Sayeret Matkal, sometimes called ‘The Unit’, an Israeli Special Forces unit in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also served.
Israel’s equivalent of the SAS is often tasked with counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, with Avinatan role in it being hidden for years over security fears.
Noa became one of the loudest voices calling for the release of the remaining hostages after she was freed last year.
In a speech to US Cabinet members and White House officials on the two-year anniversary of October 7, she said: ‘Avinatan and I came to the Nova music festival just to celebrate our life.
‘We found ourselves in the darkest tunnels of Gaza. I cannot even begin to describe those terrible pictures.’
She recalled asking desperately around in the Re’im forest after Hamas militants descended, killing some 380 people, if anyone had seen Avinatan.
‘I didn’t know if it was murdered or kidnapped, and I was afraid to know the answer,’ she said.
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‘I’m not the same person that I used to be… I saw it happen in front of my eyes, two of my friends that were with me since October 7 were murdered in captivity.
‘Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky were brutally murdered and executed and I survived.’
Bring Them Home Now, a campaign group, described Avinatan as a ‘man surrounded by friends, who knows how to cook and bake’.
‘A brilliant, generous and kind-hearted guy. A “classic” older brother who helps out at home and can always be relied on,’ it added in an X post following his release.
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