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Weeks after daughter was rescued from Gaza, Liora Argamani dies of cancer

Chinese-born Liora Argamani, whose daughter, Noa, was held captive in Gaza for eight months before being rescued, dies of brain cancer, less than a month after her daughter was returned home.

By World Israel News Staff

The mother of a recently-freed Israeli hostage who had been held by Hamas terrorists for months in the Gaza Strip has died following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Liora Argamani, a former Chinese citizen born in the city of Wuhan, was originally named Li Chunhong, died overnight at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

“The family has requested that their privacy be respected during these difficult times,” the hospital said in a statement.

A practicing nurse, Argamani have visited Israel in 1994, where she met her future husband, Yaakov Argamani in Beersheba. Three years later, she gave birth to the couple’s only child, Noa.

Argamani’s only child, 26-year-old Ben Gurion University student Noa Argamani, was among over 250 people taken captive by Gaza terrorists during the invasion of southwestern Israel on October 7th. Noa and her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, were abducted from the Nova music festival outside Re’im.

The 61-year-old immigrant had battled brain cancer for years, and had made repeated public appears – including to President Joe Biden – to intervene on her daughter’s behalf to secure her release.

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“I’m now a cancer patient, brain cancer. I don’t know how much time I have left,” Argamani said in one video statement. “I want to be able to see my Noa at home.”

“Liora spent her final days alongside her daughter, Noa, who had returned from captivity, and her close family,” Sourasky Medical Center said Tuesday morning.

On June 8th, less than a month before Liora’s passing, her daughter was freed by an Israeli special forces team that operated in the central Gaza city of Nuseirat, freeing a total of four Israeli captives.

Liora and Noa were later reunited in Liora’s hospital room.

“Noa can’t communicate with Liora, but she said she wanted one last hug, and I think she got it,” said Noa’s cousin, Amnon Regev. “This is her victory and all of ours.”