With music, tears, and heartfelt speeches, thousands of Israelis gathered in a Tel Aviv park on Tuesday evening to mark the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The ceremony, organised by families of the victims and aired live on all major Israeli TV channels, took place as negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing Gaza war continued in Egypt.
Unlike official state events, politicians and government representatives were not invited. The gathering served instead as a moment of national remembrance, uniting Israelis of all backgrounds.
Following a minute of silence, singers took turns performing between emotional speeches from relatives of victims and tributes to civilians, soldiers, and hostages who lost their lives.
Among those who took the stage were comedian Fauda star Tzahi Halevi and Ashira Greenberg, widow of an army officer killed in Gaza, who both honoured first responders and rescuers.
Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre and former Eurovision contestant, performed a moving rendition of his song, “I rise from the ashes and I come home.”
During the October 7 attacks, Hamas militants kidnapped 251 hostages to Gaza — 47 of whom remain in captivity, including 25 declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Rabbi Elhanan Danino, whose son Ori was abducted from the Nova festival and later killed, led the crowd in the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.
Former hostage Omer Shem Tov, freed during a truce earlier this year after 505 days in captivity, also spoke. “Thank you to the heroes who never came back, and to those who continue to protect us,” he said, as the crowd erupted, chanting “now” in a call for the hostages’ release.
The ceremony’s focus remained firmly on those still held in Gaza. Mothers of captured soldiers, Anat Angrest and Viki Cohen, shared personal memories as photos of their sons were projected on giant screens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“For two years, there has been no light—you are in the darkness of the tunnels,” Cohen said. “I will not give up. The whole nation is fighting for you.”
Together with singer Yardena Arazi, they performed “Come, Mom,” a beloved Hebrew song associated with hope for the hostages’ return.
The evening concluded with a unifying rendition of Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem, following a duet by two of the country’s most popular singers.
“We don’t want revenge, but healing,” said Galit Dan, a French-Israeli woman who lost her mother and daughter at Kibbutz Nir Oz—one of the communities hardest hit on that tragic day.
