Page 5 - TORCH Magazine #29 - Autumn 2025

A
vinatan and his girlfriend Noa
were among 251 kidnapped
from Israel on that fateful day.
They were attending the Nova
music festival when Hamas launched
its attack. Noa said they were there to
celebrate their life together; but their
lives were about to be turned upside
down by Hamas’s terror.
Noa and Avinatan hid from the terrorists
during the attack. After several hours,
Avinatan’s father managed to get through
to him, and he replied, “We’re OK — I’ll call
back in ten minutes.” That call never came.
Footage filmed by Hamas showed
Avinatan and Noa being cruelly torn apart.
Noa was flung onto the back of an all-terrain
motorbike, crying out, “Don’t kill me!” The
footage showed Noa hopelessly reaching out
for him as they were being dragged away by
terrorists.
During his time in captivity, Avinatan was
held in total isolation for long stretches. For
two years, he did not see other hostages
and had very little information about events
in Israel. According to reports, he was
systematically starved and suffered severe
malnutrition, losing between 30% and 40%
of his body weight. Meanwhile, Avinatan had
no awareness about the fate of his girlfriend,
Noa. Held captive in Gaza for eight months,
Noa was rescued by Israeli forces during the
daring ‘Operation Arnon’ on 8 June 2024,
along with three other hostages.
“We were taken to Gaza by force,
separated, and entered hell on earth,” Noa
said in an interview. “I held Avinatan’s hand
as long as I could, but in one moment of
terror, we were torn apart from each other
and dragged into the unknown.”
“Every night I was falling asleep and
thinking this may be the last night of my life;
and until the moment I was rescued… I just
did not believe that I’m still surviving,” she
added.
Noa was moved multiple times. At one
time she was held with two little girls, Hila
Rotem and Emily Hand. “Emily was 8 years
old at the time and Hila was 12. I had to
be brave, not only for myself but also for
the girls. I had to act as though everything
would be all right, which is why I told them,
'As long as we are here, together, alive in this
room – nothing else matters.'"
In comments made to the mother of
one of the other hostages, Noa said that
the Israeli women were kept as slaves, “They
cleaned the yard, did dishes and prepared
food that they were not allowed to eat.”
She explained to the mother that her
daughter, held at first in a "luxury villa," was
only allowed to shower after a month in
captivity. Soon after, they were moved into
Hamas’s underground terror tunnels. “Down
there it was much worse — without fresh
water and with very little food,” she said,
adding that the hostages were not provided
with clean clothes and had no way to wash
and dry their garments and underwear.
The doctor treating the four female
hostages, including Noa, said that they were
beaten regularly during their captivity by
their Hamas abductors.
Dr. Itai Pessach of Sheba Medical Center
said that “the hostages suffered almost daily
abuse and that their time in captivity was “a
harsh, harsh experience.”
“Every hour brought physical, mental,
and other forms of abuse — an experience
beyond comprehension,” the doctor said,
adding that the eight months the hostages
spent in Hamas captivity “left a significant
mark on their health,” despite their outward
appearance of being in good shape.
“They had no protein, so their muscles
are extremely wasted, there is damage to
some other systems because of that,” he
said, adding that the hostages had said the
supply of food and water varied, and that
they were moved a few times and dealt with
by different guards.
Noa’s father and mother waited anxiously
for news of their daughter, not knowing if
she had survived October 7th, or whether
she would ever return to Israel alive. During
this time, Noa’s mother Liora was fighting
a prolonged battle with brain cancer. Her
final wish was to see her only child, Noa,
one last time. In a heart-rendering video
seen by millions worldwide, Liora appealed
to world leaders: "I'm now a cancer patient,
brain cancer. I don't know how much time
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