Two Years Apart: Tears, Hope, and Reunion as Israeli Hostages Return Home
After two years in Hamas captivity, Israeli hostages including Avinatan Or reunited with loved ones in deeply emotional scenes, symbolizing hope, endurance, and the long-awaited relief of peace and reunion.
New Delhi: Two years. 738 days. 17,712 hours. That is how long Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or, an Israeli couple, endured the agonizing wait to embrace each other again. Or was among the 20 hostages freed under a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas after two relentless years of confinement in Gaza on Monday.
As soon as Or stepped into the room at the Re’im crossing, he rushed into the waiting arms of his beloved Argamani, who had been rescued by Israeli forces last year. A heart-rending video captures their reunion, the two locked in a long embrace as Or tenderly showers kisses on her face.
Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or are reunited at last ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Gw4M3x9Mk4
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shared a photograph of the moment, depicting Or gently kissing Argamani’s cheek while she smiles luminously. “Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or are reunited at last,” the IDF captioned the picture.
Two years earlier, on October 7, the couple had attended the Nova Music Festival to celebrate life and freedom, but fate led them instead into the “dark tunnels of Gaza.” Reflecting on the anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war, Argamani revisited that traumatic night, writing, “Thousands of young people running in the fields, hundreds of cars trying to escape—all of us begging not to be murdered. October 7 was the last time I saw my partner. In captivity, I asked about Avinatan everywhere I went. I didn’t know if he was kidnapped or murdered, but I was afraid to know the answer.”
A viral video from that day showed Argamani being forcefully taken into Gaza on a motorcycle, crying out in despair. The Chinese-born Israeli was rescued after 245 days in captivity and has since become a vocal advocate for the hostages’ release.
💛 Watch the moment Eitan Mor reunites with his parents: pic.twitter.com/mKajWRBumU
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2025
For Argamani, the past two years were filled with trepidation and yearning. “I hold onto hope every single day that this nightmare will end soon, and we’ll finally live the life we’ve dreamed of,” she wrote, just before the peace deal, brokered by US President Donald Trump, was finalized.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed heartfelt relief upon the release of Avinatan Or, who had been an engineer in Nvidia’s networking division. “I am profoundly moved and deeply grateful to share that our colleague, Avinatan Or, was released to the Red Cross in Gaza,” Huang wrote, praising Or’s mother for her “strength, courage, and unwavering hope.”
Across Israel, reunions were suffused with emotion, tears, hugs, and cathartic joy. Hostage Eitan Mor’s father clung to him in a tight embrace, unwilling to let go. Another freed hostage, Omri Miran, was finally reunited with his daughters—one too young to even remember him. “Daddy’s here, Daddy’s back,” said his wife over a call, moments before the heartwarming reunion.
