"Do you want to see how they returned my son to me?": the wound of October 7th remains open in Israel

JerusalemIn the Negev desert, near the Gaza Strip, it is hard to imagine that three years ago this place was full of music and dozens of young people dancing until sunrise. Today, at the site where the Nova festival was held there is no music. There are photographs and memorials scattered across the esplanade. A drone flies over the area while Israeli soldiers guard the access points. On one side, 378 trees commemorate the people murdered by Hamas at the festival. The memorial also remembers the 44 attendees who were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

Among them was Guy Illouz, a 26-year-old musician. His father, Michel, opens the doors of his home to the ARA, in Tel Aviv. In the living room, there are portraits of his son, his guitar, and personal items such as his kippah. “Since October 7th, I am known only as Guy’s father,” he says. Guy was missing for 57 days. The family learned later that he was kidnapped in Gaza and had been shot several times.

At first, he managed to escape from Hamas and hide. Michel takes out his phone and shows a video recorded with a Hamas GoPro camera. “This is Guy’s car. He is here. And now you will see how he hides to the left of this tree,” explains the former Israeli army officer, while pausing the image. The young man, when he saw a vehicle he thought belonged to the Israeli forces, came out of his hiding place, but there were Hamas members in the vehicle.

His remains did not return to Israel until October 2025, almost two years after the attack. “Do you want to see how they returned my son to me? I warn you that they are harsh images,” says Michel while showing a photograph in which only the skull and some bones can be distinguished. He was able to recognize him by his teeth. “They kidnapped my soul. Since October 7th, I feel as if I were also a hostage,” he adds. This year, for the first time, he has a grave to go to with Guy’s siblings, Uri and Maya.

The unknowns surrounding the attack

A year ago, the hostage story was still open. Today, there is no longer any Israeli hostage left in Gaza. On January 26, 2026, the army recovered the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old policeman, after more than 840 days of captivity. With him, the list of the 251 hostages kidnapped in southern Israel during the attack was closed. For the families, however, the return of the hostages has not meant the end of the struggle. The battle remains another: to know what happened that early morning, what the State knew, and what it did, or failed to do, with that information.

Almost three years later, a state commission of inquiry has not been established. In fact, the Supreme Court decided in September to postpone until after the elections any decision regarding the creation of this body and gave the government until January 15, 2027, to explain how it intends to investigate the errors that preceded the attack.

For Michel, who gives voice to the frustration of many families, this lack of investigation is one of the reasons why he has lost confidence in the government. “The government failed me before October 7th and failed me afterwards. I cannot forgive them,” he says. For him, investigating what happened is a matter of justice and democracy. He asserts that he will continue to demand a full investigation and political change and, if that does not happen, he is considering leaving Israel.

Anniversary on campaign

This year, even though the question of what the government knew has gained momentum over the last few weeks, following various reports about possible prior warnings of the attack, among which would be those attributed to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the anniversary coincides with an electoral campaign in which October 7 is no longer just a date of remembrance, but a central piece of the political debate ahead of the October 27 elections. On the eve of the anniversary, Netanyahu emphasized the military balance of three years of war: a weakened Hamas and an Israel that, in his words, is “the strongest country in the Middle East”. He also repeatedly warned his enemies that any new attack will receive a forceful response.

Despite this discourse, October 7th continues to cast its shadow over the perception of security in Israel. A poll by the Israeli research center Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), published in September, shows dissatisfaction with the war in Gaza: only 34% of respondents declare themselves satisfied with the government's management and 27% believe that Israel has defeated Hamas. Furthermore, 59% consider it possible that a similar attack could be repeated from the border with Gaza in the coming years.

In this context, another episode has once again triggered the fears of Israelis: the attempt by the co-pilot of a plane traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv to crash the aircraft. The investigation remains open, but the case has reactivated the debate over security systems and, inevitably, over who has the responsibility to act before a new possible catastrophe occurs.

Although there are fewer and fewer posters and yellow ribbons on the roads leading to the Nova, the wound of October 7 remains open. The families of the victims and the hostages continue to hold commemorative events and protests. And there is another battle pending: to know what happened that morning, what the State knew, and why, three years later, an investigation has still not been opened.