Noa Argamani, who was rescued on Saturday morning in a daring operation from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, arrived in the evening at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, where her ailing mother Liora is hospitalized.
Liora, who is battling cancer, fought for her daughter's return alongside her husband, Yaakov. In various interviews since Noa was taken captive, Liora repeatedly expressed her wish to reunite with her only daughter.
In December, Liora wrote a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, seeking his help in securing her daughter's release.
“I am terminally ill with Stage 4 brain cancer,” she wrote in the letter, which garnered worldwide attention. “All that’s running through my mind before I part ways with my family forever is the chance to hug my daughter, my only child, one last time.”
“My daughter Noa is a contagiously happy and resilient young woman. She loves to dance, loves music, loves being with her friends and family. She deserves to be back where she belongs, pursuing her dreams, surrounded by love and care. She deserves to see her mother alive one last time.”
Noa and Yaakov Argamani and one of her rescuers at Sheba Medical Center
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Noa, who was held on the first floor of a building in Nuseirat, hundreds of yards from the building where the other three hostages—Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov—were kept, told her family she heard loud knocks.
"She told me that out of nowhere, they told her it was the IDF, 'We came to rescue you.' She was in shock," said her relative, Asaf Shahebi, at Sheba Medical Center in outside Tel Aviv, where the four freed hostages were taken.
Noa Argamani reunites with her father Yaakov
(Video: from Channel 13)
After her release, Noa was seen tearfully embracing her father, Yaakov. In conversations with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she said, "I am very excited; I haven't spoken Hebrew for so long."
Footage from helicopter that evacuated Noa Argamani
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Meanwhile, the IDF released footage from the belly of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter that evacuated her after the dramatic rescue by the police’s Yamam counterterrorism unit and Shin Bet security agency in the heart of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.