Ex-hostage: 'I went through 1,000 lifetimes in 1,000 days'

‘We won’t give up’: Crowd marking 1,000 days since Oct. 7 vows to keep demanding state inquiry

Former hostage Rom Braslavski says ‘personal war’ against PTSD continues; at least 7 arrested blocking Ayalon Highway ahead of rally at Hostages Square, where speakers slam government

Thousands of people gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday night to mark 1,000 days since Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and to demand a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the onslaught and massacre.

Protesters also briefly blocked the northbound Ayalon Highway at rush hour ahead of the rally. At least seven protesters were arrested, according to an anti-government volunteer lawyer group.

The rally marked a return to Hostages Square, the plaza that symbolized the struggle to free the 251 captives taken during the October 7 attack, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and launched the Gaza war. The square served as the focal point for demonstrations demanding the hostages’ release until the remains of the last slain captive, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, were returned in January.

Rom Braslavski, one of the 20 final living hostages who were released on October 13 as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire, was greeted with chants of “hero” as he took to the stage to speak.

“I was held in Gaza for two whole years. We’re marking 1,000 days, but for me it’s been an eternity,” he said. “I went through 1,000 lifetimes in 1,000 days.”

Braslavski said his “personal war” against post-traumatic stress disorder “will go on another thousand days, and a thousand days after them, and on until the end of life.”

He vowed to make it his “life’s work” to commemorate the October 7 attack.

‘Exactly 1,000 days ago, my life stopped’

Thursday’s protest was organized by the October Council, an anti-government group comprising hundreds of bereaved families, survivors and former hostages taken in the onslaught. The group organized protests at junctions nationwide throughout Thursday, starting at 6:29 a.m., the exact moment the Hamas attack began 1,000 days earlier.

The Council has focused its public activity on demanding that the failures surrounding the October 7 attack be investigated by a state commission of inquiry, Israel’s highest investigative authority. A majority of Israelis support establishing such an inquiry, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed forming one because its members would be chosen by the judiciary, which he claims is biased against him. He has instead advanced legislation to form a politically appointed inquiry into the onslaught.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was another one of the 20 last living captives to be released, and who was one of the most outspoken activists for a hostage deal, told the crowd at Hostages Square that “Netanyahu’s legacy is failure.”

“The graves of our soldiers are his legacy. The nightmares that the hostages who were saved will carry all their lives — though many of them could have been brought back sooner — are his legacy,” said Zangauker.

“Together, we’ll demand a state commission of inquiry,” she said. “We won’t give up until everyone responsible for the debacle, the abandonment and the failure will be held to account, and until we kick out this government of total failure.”

At previous rallies at Hostages Square before the October 2025 ceasefire deal that ended the war, speakers often accused Netanyahu of demurring on a hostage deal to safeguard his coalition, which includes far-right factions that were opposed to a ceasefire.

Those demonstrations were organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The Forum disbanded following the ceasefire, as the last slain hostages were returned.

Einav Zangauker speaks at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on July 2, 2026, during a rally marking 1,000 days since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, when her son Matan was abducted. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)A similar tone also characterized Thursday’s demonstration. Eyal Eshel, father of slain IDF surveillance soldier Roni Eshel, listed remarks by coalition members that appeared to downplay the October 7 attack and the effect it has had on victims’ families.

He referenced Netanyahu recently joking that he had lost weight since October 7, as well as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claiming credit this week for the hostages’ release, though he opposed deals to free the captives. He also refers to MK Simcha Rothman praising the coalition’s record, and Settlements Minister Orit Strock lauding a “miracle period” of settlement expansion two years ago.

“There’s one, Benjamin Netanyahu; what changed for him is that he lost weight. There’s one, Bezalel Smotrich; he claims the hostages are back thanks to him, even the ones who came back in body bags. There’s one, Simcha Rothman; he claims [the government] had a wonderful term. And there’s one, Orit Strock, who thinks we’re living in a time of miracles,” he said.

“And then there’s me, Eyal Eshel. Exactly 1,000 days ago, my life stopped,” he added.

Addressing his late daughter, Eshel said: “I promise you — we won’t be silent. We won’t let the truth be distorted.”

“To my last day I’ll demand truth, I’ll demand accountability, and I’ll demand that whoever steered the country that day be held publicly and morally responsible for the debacle that destroyed so much life,” he said