Four hostages kidnapped from the Nova music festival and held by militants in Gaza over the past eight months were rescued by Israeli forces on Saturday.
After the Hamas-led terrorist attack on October 7, Israel released only a small number of hostages through military force. Saturday’s rescue efforts occurred in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where health officials said dozens of Palestinians had been killed.
Here’s what we know about the four hostages brought back to Israel.
Noa Argamani
Noa Argamani, 26, was taken hostage in the October 7 attack along with her boyfriend, Avinatan Or. Viral footage showed Ms Argamani being taken to Gaza on the back of a motorbike while she screamed in despair.
Ms Argamani and her boyfriend were kidnapped during the Nova music festival in southern Israel, where militants carried out brutal atrocities against partygoers.
Ms. Argamani’s plight has received outsized attention, in part because her mother, Liora, suffers from brain cancer and her condition has worsened significantly in recent months.
“I don’t know how much time I have left,” the mother said last year. “I would like to see my Noa at home.”
Andrei Kozlov
Andrey Kozlov, 27, was working as a security guard at the music festival when he was kidnapped. He recently immigrated to Israel from Russia and resided in Rishon Lezion, a city in central Israel.
In January, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, told Hamas officials that the release of civilians captured in the Oct. 7 attack, including Kozlov and two other Russian citizens, should be expedited, according to a statement from the Ministry of Affairs Foreign. Russian foreign affairs. foreign Minister.
In footage shared on social media on Saturday, Kozlov could be seen smiling as he was escorted by troops from a military helicopter.
Almog Meir Jan
According to the Hostage Families Forum, Almog Meir Jan, 22, was kidnapped the day before he was to start a new job at a technology company.
In December, Sky News broadcast an interview with his mother, Orit, who said her son had called her at 7.45am on 7 October and described the chaotic scenes unfolding at the festival site.
“Mom, they closed the festival,” she remembered his words. “There are rockets and gunfire everywhere.”
On Saturday, footage of Mr Meir Jan’s family celebrating the news of his freedom was shared on social media. “I’m so excited,” her mother said.
Shlomi Ziv
Shlomi Ziv, 41, worked as a security guard at the festival. She is a resident of Elkosh, a community in northern Israel, where he lived with his wife Miran, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Last year, Ms. Ziv said she was certain her husband would return and that she was already preparing for the challenges of taking in someone who has spent months in captivity.
“We will welcome a person who we don’t know what he saw, what he experienced, what he knows and what he doesn’t know,” he told Seven10Stories, an initiative that collected testimonies from survivors of October 7. “It will not be easy.”