'May we learn to love and not to hate,' freed Israeli hostage says

Noa Argamani, a former Israeli hostage who was recently freed from Gaza after some 250 days in captivity, has addressed the public in an emotional video message, calling for an end to hatred.

"I wish for all of us to have more peaceful days, quieter days, to be surrounded by family, friends and good people," Argamani, 26, says in the message shown during a mass protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.

"Most importantly," she continued, "may we learn to love and not to hate."

"Although I am at home now, we cannot forget the hostages who are still in Hamas captivity," Argamani said.

"Hamas and we must do everything possible to bring them back home."

Argamani and three other hostages who were abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7 were freed in an Israeli military operation some three weeks ago.

Argamani and her boyfriend had been attending the Nova music festival when fighters from Palestinian resistance group Hamas and other groups attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.

Images that captured the moment when she was abducted on a motorbike went around the world. Argamani's boyfriend is still in Hamas captivity.

Another 120 hostages are also believed to still be held in Gaza, but it is feared that many of them have died.

According to Gaza's health authority, 274 Palestinians were killed and another 700 injured in the Israeli military operation to free Argamani and the other three hostages.

In the video, Argamani thanks those involved in her rescue.

According to Israeli media reports, the young woman learned to speak Arabic during the many months spent in captivity, which allowed her to speak on behalf of other female hostages she was temporarily held with.