Families of Oct. 7 Victims Demand State Inquiry, Cite Missed Hostage Deal

Families of victims and hostages from the October 7th Hamas attack held a press conference Tuesday, demanding a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to the massacre. Natalia Kesrouti, whose son Keshet was murdered at the Nova music festival, played a recording of his final call to emergency services, expressing his terror.

"For three years, I wake up every morning to this nightmare," Kesrouti said, lamenting that many hostages returned "in a coffin" and that the state failed to protect its citizens. She pleaded for an investigation to uncover how the events of that day unfolded.

Noam Peri, whose father Haim was abducted and murdered in Gaza, confirmed reports that Israel received an offer in the early days of the war to return all hostages. "I can tell today that in November and December 2023, I myself heard confirmation from various sources of this report. The State of Israel received the offer and didn't even respond to it. It wasn't their priority," Peri stated. She added that her father and dozens of other hostages could have returned alive, criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu's New Year's greeting claiming all hostages were returned as a "great lie."

The families released a document, "File 7.10," asserting that the October 7th massacre was not an isolated incident but the result of years of policy, including avoiding proactive action against Hamas leadership, systematically rejecting security recommendations, enabling Qatari funding to Hamas, failing to develop a decisive strategy, ignoring years of warnings, and prioritizing internal political upheaval over security concerns.

Other speakers at the conference included Shelly Mesil-Yogev, Einav Tsengauker, Professor Efi Zehavy, Lishay Miran, Gil Dickman, Merav Svirsky, Michel Illouz, and Naomi Orr Ofeck, representing various families affected by the attacks and the subsequent captivity.