Families of hostages Noa Argamani, Mohammed Alatrash meet with Singapore’s foreign minister

The parents of Hamas hostage Noa Argamani tell Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan that Liora, Noa’s mother, has brain cancer, and that her only wish is to see her daughter one more time.

The meeting takes place at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, along with Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

The 26-year-old Argamani was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7. A video of her reaching out from the motorcycle of her captors toward her boyfriend Avinatan Or is one of the images of the Hamas attacks that led coverage of the atrocities around the world.

“Noa is our only daughter. She was kidnapped when she went to a festival to sing, dance and be happy,” said Argamani’s father Yaakov, according to the Foreign Ministry. “Unfortunately, Liora has cancer, brain cancer. She is being treated by one of the best medical teams in the world, but unfortunately there is not much to do, and she doesn’t have much time left. My wife’s wish is to see Noa just one more time before it’s too late – I’m asking you to help us fulfill my wife’s wish.”

Liora Argamani grew up in China, as did Balakrishan’s mother. The Singaporean foreign minister speaks some Mandarin.

Salem Alatrash, whose brother Mohammed — a father of 13 from the Bedouin village of Sawa in the Negev — is also being held by Hamas, attends the meeting as well.

“Mohammed has 13 children who ask every night, ‘When is daddy coming back?'” he says. “Our family is going through difficult times. Five months we wake up every morning to a life that isn’t a life. People aren’t supposed to live like this.”