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When Yonatan Levi saw the video of his friend Noa Argamani in captivity, he said he could barely recognize the smart, free spirit of the woman who loved parties and traveling and was studying computer science.”When I saw that video, I thought maybe she’s living physically but has died inside,” said Levi, who met Argamani during a diving course in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.A few months before her abduction, Argamani asked Levi to help navigate insurance issues for her mom, he said. As an only child, she was a big part of her mother’s life and care, and she seemed hopeful she would be OK, Levi said.But Liora Argamani’s cancer has worsened, according to a video released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.In it, Liora and her husband tearfully thumb through childhood photos of Noa. From her wheelchair, Liora addresses the camera — and U.S. President Joe Biden directly. Behind her rests an enlarged photo of Noa’s pained face as she’s dragged into Gaza, on a posterboard with her words overtop: “DON’T KILL ME!””My heart really hurts,” Liora, a Chinese immigrant, says slowly in accented Hebrew. “I am asking you, President Joe Biden. … I am really begging you.”The stress of missing a loved one like Noa is hard on the healthiest of people, and it will only exacerbate a condition like cancer, said Ofrit Shapira Berman, a psychoanalyst who heads a group of health professionals treating freed hostages, families and survivors.”The fact that so much of her psychic energy is invested in her daughter’s trauma leaves her lesser chance to survive,” Berman said.In the video, Noa’s father, Yaakov Argamami, strokes the family photo albums and chokes back tears.”I miss everything about her,” he says. “Her hug. The hug I wanted to …”Unable to finish, he simply nods and the camera cuts away.
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For families of hostages, it’s a race against time as Israel’s war reaches six-month mark
