Israel appeals to Chinese president to help free hostage Noa Argamani

Benjamin Netanyahu asks Xi Jinping to intervene personally to secure the release of woman captured during Hamas’ October 7 attack

Argamani’s mother, who was born in China, is battling brain cancer

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to intervene to help free a hostage whose mother was born in China. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00pm, 26 Dec 2023Updated: 11:46pm, 26 Dec 2023

Israel has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help secure the release of an Israeli hostage whose mother is a former Chinese national.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday that he summoned Chinese ambassador Cai Run to request Xi’s intervention on behalf of Noa Argamani, one of roughly 250 people taken hostage during Hamas’ October 7 attack.

“I told the ambassador: I would like you to tell Xi Jinping that, beyond the protocols and rules, there is a girl here with a Chinese mother, and I personally ask that you personally involve yourself in her case, because her mother is not only pleading for Noa’s life, but also for her own,” Netanyahu said, adding that Argamani’s mother was battling cancer.

Human rights groups have, too, intensified calls on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and detainees as ceasefire deals shed light on a practice that allows Palestinians to be detained for indefinite periods without trial or charge.

Argamani, 26, an engineering student from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in southern Israel, was initially identified by the Israeli embassy in China as a Beijing-born Chinese-Israeli woman.

Her mother, Liora Argamani, who was born in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, later told the Post that her daughter was “not Chinese”, “does not have a Chinese passport” and had never lived in China.