Full horrors of torture suffered by Noa Argamani’s commando boyfriend are revealed – including how 6ft 5in hostage was beaten and kept chained in 6ft cell for a year after he tried to escape from Hamas

Full details of the torture Noa Argamani’s boyfriend suffered in Hamas captivity have been revealed; including how the six-foot-tall hostage was beaten and chained in a six-foot cell for a year.

Avinatan Or, 32, was kidnapped by Hamas-affiliated gunmen from the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, and spent 738 days in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

The world watched with horror the footage of him being torn away from his 28-year-old girlfriend Noa, who was being driven towards the border on a motorcycle, and being crushed between the corpses of two terrorists.

He screamed, stretching out his arm for Avinatan to save him, but Avinatan had no strength to intervene as he was captured by a group of militants.

Later released by an Israeli rescue mission in June, Avinatan was left to rot underground on the Strip, where he was subjected to a systematic program of starvation, abuse and total isolation.

He was one of 20 living Israeli hostages released on Monday as part of US President Donald Trump’s historic deal aimed at ending the devastating two-year war in Gaza.

As former hostages testify to their families and medical staff, details emerge about how they were subjected to psychological torture. They were suffocated with bags over their heads, and some were force-fed as the militants rushed to hide the sight of ribs protruding from the dull skin before being released.

It was recently revealed that Avinatan served in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit; this fact was kept secret throughout his time in captivity to avoid possible punishment from the guards.

Avinatan Or, who has been held in Gaza since a deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, kisses his girlfriend Noa Argamani, who was taken hostage and rescued in 2024 after being released as part of the prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, on October 13, 2025, in Reim, Israel.

Noa Argamani reacts to the capture of herself and her partner Avinatan Or (not pictured) by members of the Hamas militant group during an attack on Israel on Saturday, October 7, 2023.

According to new details revealed by his father, it is now known that Avinatan, who is 6 feet tall, was chained in captivity for more than a year, in a cage that was only 1.8 meters high (slightly taller than the thin mattress he was sleeping on).

Before that, he was kept in a cell behind bars, so small he couldn’t move freely.

Initial medical examinations show that he lost 30 to 40 percent of his body weight because he was kept in almost total isolation for two years and was not contacted by another abductee until his release on Monday.

“He is extremely weak,” Or’s father, Yaron Or, told Israel’s Kan Reshet Bet radio on Wednesday morning.

‘He was surrounded by guards whose relatives had been killed in IDF attacks, and I think it’s a miracle they didn’t harm him, except for one time when he tried to escape.’

Avinatan tried to escape from his captors as he was led through a tunnel.

After his attempt to escape, Hamas guards worsened his condition and beat him as punishment.

“He shares everything slowly; we don’t ask directly,” his father said.

Avinatan Or, 32, was separated from his girlfriend Noa Argamani on October 7, 2023.

Freed hostage Avinatan Or is seen meeting with an IDF officer in the Gaza Strip shortly after his release from Hamas captivity on October 13, 2025.

The 32-year-old was not given the opportunity to have any contact with other hostages throughout his captivity.

“No books, no human contact, no nothing,” Yaron said. ‘At one point he got a Rubik’s Cube and that was all he had. I don’t know how he came out of this sane. “It’s a miracle.”

His captors fed him lies as a form of psychological torture.

They said Noa was released, although he was still in captivity at the time.

“He knew there was a war and he thought it had to end, even at the cost of hostages,” Avinatan’s father said.

He did not know the full extent of ‘October 7′; He only knew that they were occupying Israel. He told the Prime Minister that he thought he would be detained for years until the war ended, and that this was what should happen. He’s a unique person.’

Yaron said his son still needed time to heal physically, but mentally he said, ‘Thank God, he’s still the same Avinatan; “same sense of humor, same strength,” he said.

His first wish after his release was to spend time alone with Noa, as the two shared what they described as their “first cigarette together in two years.”

After his release, Or’s first wish was to spend time alone with Noa, who was rescued in a military operation in June last year.

Released Israeli hostage Avinatan Or greets well-wishers as he arrives at Beilinson Hospital at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, central Israel, on October 13, 2025.

In a touching social media post on Tuesday, accompanied by a photo of the couple in a military helicopter, Noa wrote: ‘We both came home and reunited against all odds!

‘I cannot put into words the feelings I felt when I saw him for the first time after so long. ‘Each of us has faced death countless times, but after two years we are finally taking our first steps together again.’

Exhausted but cheerful, Avinatan explained in a video message he sent to his friends during his recovery how his communication with the outside world was blocked for two years.

‘Wait a minute, is this a recording now? I don’t even know what this technology is; I’ve been disconnected for two years,” he said with a smile in a short video clip.

‘My dear friends, I am very glad to see you. I saw you all down in the van today; this is crazy. I believe we will meet very soon. I’m fine, just tired and exhausted, but we’ll figure it all out soon. I can’t wait to see you. ‘I love you all and I hear you’ve done so much for me.’

Avinatan was released along with 19 other living hostages on Monday as part of the Israel-Hamas peace deal brokered by Trump.

Another freed hostage, Elkana Bohbot, 36, is understood to have spent most of the two years she was held by Hamas chained in a dark and filthy tunnel where she lost all sense of time.

Channel 12 reported that she somehow remembered her wedding anniversary and insisted to her captors that she be allowed to shower that day.

Although the guards holding him initially refused, they relented and allowed him to clean himself up.

Elkana Bohbot was seen hugging authorities after her release

In this photo provided by the Israel Defense Forces, Matan Angrest speaks with an IDF representative in Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.

Hamas militants reportedly force-fed him food before releasing him, making him feel sick because they did not want him to appear malnourished in front of the world.

Matan Angrest, a 22-year-old soldier captured from his tank in southern Israel, was subjected to ‘very severe torture’ in his first few months as a hostage, according to his mother Anat.

He told local media that he ‘remembered being beaten so badly that he lost consciousness’.

It was reported that Strip had surgery on his hand without anesthesia.

His mother said he was the victim of malicious psychological games, and that Hamas militants told her that the Israelis had given up on him and that the terrorists planned to conquer Israel with a new attack on October 7.

Hamas on Monday returned four hostages, later identified as Guy Illouz, 26, Bipin Joshi, 23, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Daniel Peretz, 22.

Four more bodies were turned in on Tuesday, three of whom were identified as 35-year-old Uriel Baruch, 18-year-old Tamir Nimrodi and 53-year-old Eitan Levi.

But Israel said the fourth ‘did not match any of the hostages’.

Hamas’ failure to immediately provide the remains of the 28 dead hostages has led to fears that the peace deal is already at risk.

A spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum told the Daily Mail:

‘Following the return of the last 20 alive hostages on Monday, devastating accounts are emerging of people being caged, chained, starved and had bags placed over their heads for long periods of time.

‘Each new account reveals another layer of deliberate psychology; and physical cruelty.

Hamas used systematic torture and psychological terror as weapons of war to dehumanize, humiliate, and destroy.

‘We know that the hostages held in Gaza today are no longer alive. For their families, the nightmare is not over yet; Many fear the bodies of their loved ones will be lost forever in Gaza.

‘The world must confront the full horror of Hamas’ actions and stand with the families to demand the return of every hostage’s body so that they can finally be buried with dignity in Israel and bring closure to the families.’

The Israel-Hamas war began when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023; In this attack, approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.

More than 67,000 Palestinians were killed in the ensuing Israeli offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which did not distinguish between civilians and combatants but said about half of the dead were women and children.