Thousands gathered Wednesday in Ra’anana for the funeral of Guy Illouz, the 26-year-old sound technician who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and later killed in Hamas captivity. His body was among several hostages’ remains returned to Israel this week for burial.
Mourners carrying Israeli flags lined the route to the cemetery as Illouz was laid to rest in his hometown. Among those attending were Gal Hirsch, the government's coordinator for hostages and missing persons, and music icon Matti Caspi, who arrived in a wheelchair to honor the young sound engineer who had worked alongside him.
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Slain hostage Guy Illouz laid to rest in the Ra'anana cemetery
(Photo: Paulina Patimer)
Illouz’s father, Michel, delivered a tearful eulogy, recalling the agony of identifying his son at the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv. “My beloved firstborn, how does one eulogize a son?” he said. “They kidnapped you, murdered you and took my soul with you. I am hollow since that cursed day when they made you turn around and shot you twice in the back.”
He said that when the sheet was lifted from his son’s body, “the first thing I saw was your smile, that same calmness and nobility that always defined you. I touched you, smelled you and knew immediately it was you.”
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Michel Illouz, father of slain hostage Guy Illouz, at the funeral of his son in the Ra'anana cemetery
(Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Michel described his son’s love of simple moments — hiking across Israel, brewing coffee over a portable stove, playing music. “You’d say, ‘Dad, look at the bubbles — you have to let it boil gently and stir in circles,’” he recalled. “Then you’d smile as you took that first sip.”
He thanked Maya Regev, a fellow Nova festival survivor and former hostage, who had been with Guy in his final days. “Maya, our beloved, thank you for being the last to see him,” he said. “We gained a daughter in you.”
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Thousands of mourners carrying Israeli flags line the road to the Ra’anana cemetery during the funeral of slain hostage Guy Illouz
(Photo: Ra'anana Municipality)
Regev, who met Illouz while both were held in Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, wrote a tribute after his identification was confirmed. “When we met, you told me the terrorists said a surprise was coming. You thought maybe they’d bring you sage tea—and then I walked in,” she wrote. “Just hearing you say that revealed so much about who you were—humble, special, someone who loved the simple things in life.”
She described their days together in captivity: “In such a dark and terrible place, you gave me a giant ray of light. You had been alone, unconscious and tied to a hospital bed for a week before I arrived. We spoke about the simplest, purest things. You told me your only comfort was that you wouldn’t have to attend the funeral of your friend Alon Werber, who was murdered before your eyes. Not long after you said that, you were no longer alive. From that moment, I promised myself I would return not only to my own family, but to yours as well. I felt as if you were waiting for me, so I could tell your story. And so I did. Now you are home, and the circle is finally closed. Rest in peace, Guy.”
The IDF said Illouz was wounded and abducted alive after fleeing the Nova festival toward Tel Gama and died from his injuries after being denied medical care in Hamas captivity. Regev testified that he lay unconscious for days, shackled to a hospital bed, and told her before his death that his mother was “the strongest woman in the world” and that he would never let her go once he returned home.
Illouz was a respected sound engineer who worked with leading Israeli artists, including the band Hayehudim (The Jews), Shalom Hanoch and Caspi. “He was a talented, sweet, extraordinary kid — the kind of person you fall in love with instantly,” said Hayehudim frontman Tom Petrover. “He had a huge smile that could fill you with light.”