“Shani saved many people on Oct. 7, she saw terrorists arriving and blocked them with her car,” Yaakov Gabay, whose daughter Shani was killed while trying to escape the festival, told me at Monday’s ceremony.
“It’s even harder a year later. I come here a lot. I was here last October 7 to look for Shani and I saved many people. I didn’t manage to save her, but it’s essential for me to be here because I know what happened,” he added.
Adi Yehudai, whose brother Ron was killed on October 7 said: “This is the place where they were murdered, so being here was the most appropriate thing to do, especially on the first-year anniversary.
“We wanted to keep this as authentic as possible and not political. We wanted to connect to the land that is soaked with their blood.
“I was here a lot over the year, but today it’s a little more emotional. We have another ceremony at 11:47 near the yellow garbage container he hid in,” he continued.
“I will use Ron’s motto; We only live once, so we need to live. I believe if he were here he would tell me to smile and enjoy every second, because that’s how he lived,” he said.
On October 7, Hamas massacred 364 of the approximately 3,500 participants and staff at the festival, with terrorists raping, burning alive and mutilating their victims.
They kidnapped 43 people and took them to Gaza, five of whom were released in November as part of a week long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
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RE'IM, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 07: A woman breaks down at the memorial to Amit Magnezi as family members and friends of the lost and kidnapped gather at the site of the Nova Festival to mark the one year anniversary of the attacks by Hamas, on October 07, 2024 in Re'im, Israel. Various commemorations are taking place around Israel to mark the anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel. On October 7, 2023, members of Hamas mounted a series of attacks and raids on Israeli citizens in the Gaza Envelope border area of Israel. 251 Israelis and foreigners were kidnapped with nearly 100 still unaccounted for and 1139 people were killed. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)Getty Images
On June 8, Nova attendees Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were freed by the Israel Defence Forces during a daring daylight raid in the heart of a crowded residential neighbourhood in Gaza.
On Aug. 31, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages from an underground tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza. Five of them –Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, and Ori Danino, 25 – had been kidnapped from the festival.
The IDF has rescued the bodies of seven additional hostages from the Palestinian enclave.
Twenty-one Nova attendees remain in Gaza, with 17 presumed to be alive.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday began a memorial journey through Gaza border communities at the festival site, where he laid a wreath and lit candles in honour of the victims.
“October 7 2023, is a day that should be remembered in infamy, when thousands of cruel terrorists broke into our homes, violated our families, burned, chopped, raped and hijacked and abducted our citizens, our brothers and sisters, and with them, people from 36 different nationalities,” said Herzog.
“This is a scar on humanity. This is a scar on the face of the Earth.
“We have to do whatever we can by all ways and means possible to bring back our hostages who are there in the tunnels and dungeons of Gaza. And the world has to realise and understand that in order to change the course of history and bring peace, a better future to the region, it must support Israel in its battle against its enemies,” continued the president.
“Blessed be those who fell, who were murdered and killed here. Young people who came to celebrate and enjoy dance and music – to live a real life of young people as any young person should be entitled to. Let us remember them forever. Let us pray, with remorse, pain, bereavement, and condolences to their families,” added Herzog.
Ori Ohayon, who lost his sister Eden in the Nova massacre, said he remains deeply affected by the trauma.
“We are triplets, it’s like something happened to our body that day for me and my brother,” Ohayon said. “We had lost contact for three days, we looked for my sister and my cousin and didn’t find anything. Then my mother received the news.
“We must commemorate them and remember them always. Grief and sadness will be part of everything I do in my life. Eden will accompany me everywhere,” he added.
