“Wait, is this recording now? I don’t even know what this technology is — I’ve been disconnected for two years,” Or said with a smile in a short video clip. Addressing his friends, he added, “My dear friends, I’m so happy to see you. I saw all of you today down there through the van — it’s crazy. We’ll meet very soon, I believe. I’m fine, just tired and exhausted, but soon we’ll catch up on everything. I can’t wait to see you. I love you all, and I heard you did so much for me. I haven’t heard everything yet, but slowly, slowly. Happy holiday.”
The lighthearted message came only days after his release, offering a glimpse into the resilience that has drawn wide admiration in Israel.
Father describes captivity in cage underground
“They didn’t starve him, but the food was very meager,” the father said. “He’s extremely thin. Around him were guards whose relatives had been killed in IDF strikes, and I think it’s simply a miracle that they didn’t harm him, except for one time when he tried to escape.”
After that escape attempt, Yaron said, his son’s captors tightened his conditions and beat him. Though the full story is still unfolding, he said Avinatan had found a chance to flee while being moved through a tunnel and tried to get out. “He’s sharing things gradually — we’re not asking directly,” he said.
‘He was alone, with nothing but a Rubik’s Cube’
Throughout his captivity, Yaron said, his son was held entirely alone in tunnels, without other Israeli hostages. “No books, no human contact — nothing,” he said. “At some point, he got a Rubik’s Cube, and that was the only thing he had. I don’t know how he came out sane from this. It’s a miracle.”
Avinatan had little understanding of what was happening in Israel, receiving only fragments of information — often false — from his terrorist captors. At one point, they falsely told him that his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, had been released, even though she was still in captivity.
“He knew there was a war, and he thought it should be ended even at the expense of the hostages,” Yaron said. “He didn’t know the full scale of Oct. 7 — only that they invaded Israel. He told the prime minister that he thought he’d be held for years, until the war ended, and that this was what needed to happen. He’s a unique person.”
“Physically, he still needs to recover,” the father said. “But mentally, thank God, he’s the same Avinatan — same humor, same strength. At least for now, it seems he hasn’t just stayed the same — he’s even stronger.”
Photos released by the Prime Minister’s Office showed Avinatan and his parents meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara.
Noa Argamani: ‘Two years since they took us — now we’re together again’
“Two years. Two years since the last moment I saw Avinatan, the love of my life. Two years since terrorists kidnapped us, put me on a motorcycle, and tore us apart in front of the whole world. From that moment, we each began our own journey,” she wrote.
Or, 32, was abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel along with Argamani, who was rescued during Operation Arnon on June 8, 2024. One of the most widely circulated videos from Oct. 7 showed Argamani being dragged away on a motorcycle as Or was restrained by the terrorists nearby.
In March 2025, the family received the first proof of life from Or. At the time, Argamani posted on Instagram: “Until Avinatan comes home, my heart remains in captivity.”
Now, for the first time in two years, they are together again — a symbol of endurance and hope amid Israel’s ongoing efforts to bring home all remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
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