"Her name is Noa": Video shows woman being taken by Hamas at Supernova music festival where at least 260 were killed
Disturbing videos out of Israel show innocent citizens, including women, children and the elderly, being taken hostage by Hamas, which is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, as they invaded the country on Saturday. In one video, a woman yells for help, her arm outstretched, as she is taken away on a motorcycle. She is Noa Argamani, a university student who was attending the Supernova music festival in the south of Israel when the Palestinian militants began their attack.
Argamani's father, Yaakov, said he was in disbelief at the images he saw. "She is an amazing person. A sweet child," he told CBS News foreign correspondent Holly Williams in Hebrew.
When asked what he wants the Israeli government to do to get his daughter back, Argamani said: "Only by peaceful measures."
"We need to act with sensitivity," he said. "They also have mothers who are crying. The same as it is for us."
The video of Noa being captured has been widely circulated on social media. "Her name is Noa," many share in the caption, adding a name to the face that is filled with fear.
Noa was taken away from her boyfriend, her family and friend told Reuters. "We all want to believe that it's not, but you can't, you can't deny it. It's just her face, her clothes and it's her boyfriend, like you can see him very clearly, you can see very clearly that it's her," Noa's friend Amit Parparia told the news agency.
"I don't think anyone ever has felt such terror and such helplessness when you're taken away from your boyfriend, from your loved ones to some place unknown with terrorists," Parparia said. "I can't imagine what she's going through right now, traveling with those terrorists in Gaza, waiting for someone to send help."
The conflict between the Jewish state of Israel and Hamas has been tumultuous for decades. But on Saturday, Hamas terrorists broke through the barrier at the border between Israel and Gaza, launching an unprecedented attack, Williams reports. Gunmen killed civilians in the street and kidnapped hostages, in some cases parading them in the streets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the Israeli military would destroy Hamas, which continued to fire more missiles on Monday. The death toll for both Israel and Palestine is more than 1,200. Nine Americans are among the dead and the Israeli Defense Forces said on Tuesday that 900 Israelis have died.
Noa and her boyfriend were among the hundreds of people at the festival in Re'im when Hamas gunmen opened fire. The city is near the Gaza Strip, an area that is Palestinian territory.
Rocket fire, followed by gunshots, came out of nowhere, a witness told Israel's Channel 12.
Paramedics removed about 260 bodies from the desert area – a number that is expected to increase, Israeli rescue service Zaka said, according to the Associated Press.
Gal Levy, 22, managed to escape the attack but was shot in both legs and doesn't know if he will walk again. Levy told CBS News' Imtiaz Tyab he waited six hours for help. "I feel let down by the government. I feel let down by the army," he said. "I lost like two liters of blood, and I was really sure after the guy that came — the terrorist, to take us — that that's it. I'm gonna die."
The family of a 20-year-old aspiring DJ who was at the festival says he is still missing. Laor Abramov's parents joined CBS News from Israel on Tuesday and said he messaged his father from a bomb shelter on Saturday but they hadn't heard from him since.
His mother, Michal Halev, said they spoke to witnesses who saw their son being taken away in a pickup truck. "We need everyone who can do something to bring us back our boy. That's what we need. We need someone to bring us back our boy," she told CBS News' Jericka Duncan.
"We need the American people. We need President Biden's help," his father, David Abramov, said. "Our children suffered the most horrific experience no one could even imagine — going to enjoy music with friends in nature and get bombarded with hand grenades and automatic weapons, and just being slaughtered one after another. Young, beautiful, happy people go to celebrate life and meeting monsters that come to celebrate death."
His father said they are in touch with authorities but haven't received answers about where their son is. "I just want to ask one thing," Abramov told viewers. "Help us? Please. Bring us back our son."