From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Mom of hostage slain in Gaza laments how daughter ‘held on for weeks in darkness’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
The national October 7 memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv highlights the 46 hostages who were taken alive to Gaza on October 7 but murdered in captivity, mainly by their captors but some inadvertently by IDF strikes.
Adi Marciano, whose daughter Noa was kidnapped alive from her military base at Nahal Oz and killed in captivity, says, “They held on for weeks and months in the darkness, in fear, clinging to life, waiting for someone to come and save them.”
“We didn’t get our loved ones back; we received them for their final rest. And we gained a new family too — the family of the bereaved.”
In their closing remarks, the hosts of the national memorial ceremony — former hostage Eli Sharabi and Shani Cohen — echo the previous plea for an investigation into the failures surrounding October 7.
“We must remember those who were murdered, those who fell, who left home and never returned,” Sharabi says.
“Not just because we owe them the memory. But rather because we owe the truth to ourselves. To remember what happened. To investigate how it happened. Not to cut corners. Not to let time blur the truth, not to rewrite history, and not to let history repeat itself,” says Sharabi.
“Only if we learn can we mend, and only if we mend, can we build a safer, more worthy, better place here. That is our hope, after everything, and despite everything, there will yet be a better life here,” says Cohen.
The Times of Israel Community.