Grief, defiance and hope: 30,000 gather in Tel Aviv to mark two years since Oct. 7

Emotions ran high in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night as Israel marked two years since Hamas’s devastating October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel. Some 30,000 people filled Yarkon Park for what became the nation’s largest memorial ceremony for the deadliest day in Israeli history.

The event, organized by Kumu (“Rise Up”) — a movement founded by survivors of that day and families of victims and hostages — stood in place of an official state ceremony.

The government has opted instead to recognize a national day of remembrance corresponding to the Hebrew anniversary of Hamas’s attack. Since it happened on the Jewish holiday of Simhat Torah, and the following day is a transition day known as Isru Chag, the annual remembrance day is marked two days after the actual Hebrew anniversary, on the 24th of the month of Tishrei, which falls this year on Thursday, October 16.

Last year, the government organized its own commemoration on October 7, which competed with the memorial organized by the survivors and families. Led by Likud minister and close Netanyahu ally Miri Regev, it drew sharp criticism from bereaved families who accused it of being politicized.

Tuesday’s memorial was mostly solemn, but did feature some comments attacking the government.

“October 7 is not only a day of remembrance for those we lost,” Kumu founder Yonatan Shamriz, brother of hostage Alon Shamriz who was mistakenly killed by the IDF after escaping his Gazan captors, told the crowd. “It is a day of remembrance for negligence, for failed leadership, and for the abandonment of responsibility. On that day, a new commitment was born: To lead the State of Israel to a better reality — a far better one.”

Shamriz said that as he was hiding in a safe room on October 7, “I made myself a promise: We will rise.”

“Our generation — which inherited a country bleeding, isolated, fractured, and in pain — will be the one to fix it,” he said. “It will be the best version of Israel, one that sanctifies the lives of its residents, that is built on truth, accountability and mutual responsibility… We will bring back life. We will bring back hope. We have risen. The people of Israel have risen.”

The national memorial ceremony at the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv marking two years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, on October 7, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Attendees donned “Bring Them Home” T-shirts, yellow ribbon pins and dog tags calling for the release of the hostages, as they collectively reflected upon two years of war. Some held posters and flags with faces of lost loved ones. There was not a dry eye in sight.

At the heart of the stage stood a burned car — one of many destroyed by Hamas terrorists along the Gaza border — surrounded by red crown anemones, Israel’s national flower and a symbol of remembrance. Nearby, a bullet-riddled bomb shelter served as a stark reminder of the brutality of that day. Hanging beside the stage were 48 yellow chairs, each representing a hostage still held in Gaza — a haunting visual of a war yet unfinished.

The stage at Israel’s national October 7 memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, with a burned car destroyed by Hamas terrorists along the Gaza border, October 7, 2025. (Alon Levin/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

The ceremony opened with a moment of silence for those killed on October 7 and in the ensuing war, followed by a moving duet by Yuval Raphael, Israel’s 2025 Eurovision representative and a survivor of the Nova music festival, and Daniel Weiss, a Kibbutz Be’eri survivor whose parents were murdered by Hamas terrorists.

Pop star Eden Hason later took the stage to perform Hanan Ben Ari’s “What Do You Want From Me” — a ballad questioning God’s purpose in human suffering — as the names of the October 7 victims illuminated the screen behind him.

Throughout the night, pre-recorded testimonies from survivors and bereaved families played on large screens. In one, several fathers who lost their children on October 7 read aloud the lyrics to singer Mooki’s “Daddy’s Boy” — lines like “Father is always here to hug and protect you” and “My child, go only on your own path” — drawing tears from the crowd.

The national memorial ceremony at the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv marking two years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, on October 7, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Event organizers also turned attention to the mental health toll of the war. Hani Liderman-Pibenev, widow of First Sgt. Igor Pibenev — a police officer who killed more than a dozen Hamas terrorists on October 7 before taking his own life in May 2025 — recounted the moment she and her daughters found his body at home, and the anger and grief that followed.

Mazi Eilon, widow of Tal Eilon, Kibbutz Kfar Aza’s security coordinator who was killed defending his community, shared her story as a recording of her husband’s final radio calls played to the audience — his voice urging his team to fight back against the infiltrating terrorists.

As the evening unfolded, calls for the release of the remaining 48 hostages — including 47 abducted on October 7 and the body of a soldier killed in 2014 — reverberated throughout the park.

“We are still on the journey — with 48 hostages who have not yet returned, and families who wait, breathe and pray for that moment,” released hostage Omer Shem Tov told the crowd.

Released hostage Omer Shem Tov speaks at Israel’s national October 7, 2023, memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv, October 7, 2025. (Alon Levin/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

He went on to express gratitude for those who sacrificed their lives fighting back or rescuing others on October 7, naming Ori Danino, who fled the Nova music festival but returned to save others — including Shem Tov, and Maya and Itay Regev — before being taken hostage and later murdered in captivity.

“For two long years, 48 innocent souls have been held captive by Hamas,” Israeli singer Eden Golan said in English, addressing international audiences watching the livestreamed event.

“Please, stand with us. Raise your voices, help us tell the world: They are coming home,” she urged, before performing a powerful rendition of “I’m Coming Home.”

As her final notes faded, the crowd erupted into chants of “Everyone, now.”

Their appeal came as ceasefire and hostage-exchange negotiations — mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar — were underway in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh, with the Prime Minister’s Office telling The Times of Israel that progress has been made in the talks.

Anat Angrest and Vicki Cohen, mothers of hostages Matan Angrest and Nimrod Cohen, respectively, speak at the Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023, massacre, in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, on October 7, 2025. (Benny Rutloy/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Some speakers, like Galit Dan — whose 13-year-old daughter Noya Dan and mother Carmela Dan were killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz — spoke of finding strength in rebuilding.

“We do not seek revenge, we seek healing,” she said to cheers from the crowd. “We want to defeat fear and find hope. To overcome hatred and reconnect to our humanity. To overcome rage and reconnect to compassion. To awaken once more the values that my grandparents came here for.”

“Our generation will take off its uniforms, shake the ashes of the burned houses from its shoulders, and wash away the failures left to us by those before us,” added Shimri. “We will ensure that a state commission of inquiry is established — so that truly, never again will mean never again.”

The government hasn’t formed any form of inquiry into the failures surrounding the Hamas onslaught, and it opposes a state commission of inquiry, claiming it would be politically biased against it, even though polls have consistently shown a large majority of the public supports such a commission.