Commandos involved in a daring raid to rescue Israeli hostage Noa Argamani have revealed what her first words were upon being saved from the clutches of Hamas.
Israeli troops rescued Noa and three other hostages after 245 days in the beleaguered Gaza Strip in the largest and most successful operation of the war last week.
Noa was seen being directed by her rescuers to a car before being pulled out of Gaza in a military helicopter and returned safely to a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Noa Argamani made front pages around the world when she was dragged into Gaza on October 7, filmed being kidnapped on the back of a motorcycle with her boyfriend as she cried out, ‘Don’t kill me!’
Three commandos from Yamam, the national counter-terrorism unit, involved in the rescue revealed that the first thing Noa did upon being rescued was ask about her mother.
In an interview with Israeli magazine Walla, one of the commandos, all of whom remained anonymous while on camera, said: ‘The moment we broke into the apartment where Noa was held, we encountered three terrorists there and quickly neutralized them, reaching Noa’s room within seconds.’
‘The first two fighters who arrived said to her, “Noa, we came to save you, we came to bring you home.” She was shocked; she didn’t quite grasp or believe what was happening.’
‘One of the fighters carried her on his back. She was barefoot. We wrapped her with fighters around her, and we left as quickly as possible after ensuring the apartment was clear of terrorists.’
‘At this stage, the air force supported us, and we entered a vehicle in order to retreat. She was terrified; I don’t think she believed what was happening before her eyes.
‘Her first question was whether her mother was still alive. I told her yes. She looked right and left at us and asked again if we were sure. We told her yes, “that’s why we came, to bring you back to your mother.”‘
Another Yamam commando told the outlet: ‘We needed to blow up the door, enter, and rescue Noa because we understood the risk of any delay on the way to the target.
Israel and Hamas are currently weighing the latest proposal for a cease-fire, a plan that was detailed by President Joe Biden in the administration’s most concentrated diplomatic push for a halt to the fighting and the release of hostages taken by the militant group.
While Biden described the proposal as an Israeli one, Israel has not fully embraced it and Hamas has demanded changes that appear unacceptable to Israel.
The fighting continues unabated, and Israel announced the names Sunday of a total of 11 soldiers killed in recent attacks in Gaza, including one who died from wounds sustained in an assault last week.
That puts the number of soldiers killed since Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza last year at 308.
Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attack and took 250 hostage, Israeli authorities say.
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war.