Mother of Slain Hostage Tells Daughter She Didn't Teach Her How to Be a Bereaved Parent

Adi Marciano, mother of lookout Noa Marciano, who was murdered in captivity, delivered a poignant address at the national memorial ceremony organized by "Komo" and the families of October 7th victims. Speaking directly to her daughter, Adi Marciano expressed the profound pain of her loss, stating, "Nineteen years you taught me what motherhood is, but you did not teach me what it is to be a bereaved mother." She also lamented, "You did not teach me how to be a mother to a child who was abducted from us and did not return."

Marciano recalled her final conversation with her daughter and the other female lookouts and soldiers who were with her that day. She extended her grief to the mothers of the 17 other female lookouts and soldiers who were killed alongside Noa. The address then broadened to encompass all hostages who were abducted alive and did not return.

"Like you, 45 other hostages, men and women, were abducted alive, and did not get to return," Marciano stated. She described the agonizing period when the hostages were still alive, enduring weeks and months in darkness and fear, clinging to life while awaiting rescue. Simultaneously, their families waited by the phone and the door, imagining the moment of reunion, but opportunities were missed.

Marciano concluded her remarks by connecting her personal loss to the fate of the other families: "We did not get our loved ones back, we received them for eternal rest. And we also received a new family, the bereaved family." The ceremony honored the memory of 46 hostages who were abducted alive and subsequently murdered by Hamas or accidentally killed by Israeli forces. Ceremony host Shani Cohen echoed the sentiment, saying, "The hands that reached out from the darkness asking for help, returned empty. They were not returned to their homes. They were returned for burial."