Who is Noa Marciano? Hamas releases concerning hostage video of 19-year-old IDF soldier presumed dead

Nearly five weeks after Noa Marciano was abducted alongside more than 200 men, women, and children by Hamas during a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning hours of October 7, the “Al-Qassam Brigades' of Hamas released a video featuring 19-year-old Marciano.

Trigger warning: This article contains information that some readers may find distressing. Reader discretion is advised.

In the video circulating on X, formerly known as Twitter, Noa Marciano, who is being held in Gaza, is seen speaking to the camera before the footage continues to display her dead body with a large wound at the back of her head. In the clip, Hamas claimed Marciano was killed in an Israeli airstrike against Gaza on November 9, 2023.

However, multiple reports citing anonymous sources claimed that the head wound on the back of Marciano’s head was consistent with several hand-dealt blows to the area, suggesting Hamas was responsible for her presumed death.

It should be noted that while Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that Noa Marciano died while in Hamas captivity, Israeli press omitted to report the same, citing the video as a propaganda tool aimed to incite "psychological terrorism."

However, Israeli press citing the IDF said that the family of Noa Marciano has been notified of the footage circulating on social media.

"Our hearts are with the Marciano family whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization. The IDF and all the relevant bodies will continue to support her family, as well as all of the families of the hostages and missing persons," a statement read.

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Noa Marciano was hiding in a bomb shelter in Kibbutz when she was taken hostage

Noa Marciano, who reportedly turned 19 while in Hamas captivity on October 12, 2023, was from Modi’in. The 19-year-old, who served in the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps of the 414th Regiment in the IDF, was an army spotter at Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas penetrated Israel from Gaza and attacked nearby communities, including Nahal Oz kibbutz, killing more than 1,400 people in communities, army bases, and at a music festival in the south of the Jewish state.

Noa Marciano was one of 240 people taken hostage by Hamas. According to the 19-year-old's mother, Adi Marciano, who traveled to the United States to raise awareness of the hostages, her daughter was hiding inside a bomb shelter in the Nahal Oz kibbutz in southern Israel when she was taken by Hamas.

On October 7, Noa Marciano reportedly called her mother from the bomb shelter where she was seeking refuge from the gunfire after Hamas attacked the Kibbutz. In a statement to the Daily News, Adi Marciano said that her daughter and her friends fled in pyjamas after they heard shots being fired outside their home.

“I woke up from the phone, and she told me she was in a shelter, a safe place, and everybody was shooting outside. There was some screaming. The girls were panicking. They didn’t know where to go, or what to do. After that, she hung up the phone.”

Image via PBSO - Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

Adi Marciano said that that was the last time she heard from her daughter before she was kidnapped by Hamas along with her friends. The teen’s mother revealed the day after the attacks, Hamas circulated a series of photos of hostages, including her daughter, who was handcuffed but alive.

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Netizens react as Noa Marciano is presumed dead

The recent Hamas video that suggested hostage Noa Marciano was dead has triggered a volley of comments on social media platforms as netizens expressed rage and grief over the tragedy and extended their support to the victim’s family.

Since the attack, Israel has launched an offensive in Gaza, killing more than 9,000 people. As the buildings in Gaza are reduced to rubble following relentless air strikes from Israel, civilians have been struggling to find shelter, food, water, and medicines.