'So Petrified': Hostages' Plight Complicates Israeli War

Dozens, at the least, have been abducted
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2023 8:13 AM CDT
Updated Oct 9, 2023 9:50 AM CDT
'So Petrified:' Hostages' Plight Complicates Israeli War
A woman cries during the funeral of Israeli Col. Roi Levy at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Levy was killed after Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns.   (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

One disturbing element of the surprise assault on Israel has been the number of civilian hostages taken. The New York Times estimates that 150 Israelis were abducted and taken to various locales throughout Gaza. CNN simply says "dozens," though Hamas says the figure is "several times greater" than that, according to the BBC. The Wall Street Journal has video here that appears to show Israelis being taken and driven away, though be warned the images may be disturbing. One, for example, shows a young woman, her bloodied hands tied behind her, being roughly shoved into a vehicle.

One of the hostages whose plight has drawn much attention is 25-year-old Noa Argamani. Her family has shown footage of her being abducted from a music festival on Saturday, and the New York Times has verified it. (You can see a clip at the Times link.) In it, she calls for help and reaches out to her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, as she's driven away on a motorcycle. Or is then shown in the custody of militants. On Sunday, more video surfaced that appeared to show Argamani, wearing the same clothes, sipping water while being held in a room somewhere in Gaza, per the BBC.

"I saw Noa in the video scared and frightened, I can't imagine what's going through her mind at all—screaming in panic on a motorcycle," said Moshe Or, brother of her boyfriend. Argamani, whose mother is Chinese, was born in Beijing and is an engineering student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in southern Israel, per the South China Morning Post. "She was so petrified, so scared, I was always so protective, but at this moment I couldn't protect her," said her Israeli father, Yaakov Argamani. (More Israel stories.)

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