Two years after the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, survivors of captivity Eli Sharabi, Maya Regev and Emily Damari marked the anniversary on Tuesday with emotional posts recalling the day that shattered their lives, the loved ones they lost and the hostages who have yet to return.
Eli Sharabi, whose wife and two daughters were murdered on the day he was kidnapped, shared a heartbreaking message on Facebook.
“Two years have passed since the day everything changed for me,” he wrote. “On October 7, 2023, our peaceful and happy lives turned into hell — pain and unimaginable loss that will accompany me every moment until my last day. I long for the pure souls of my wife Lian, my daughters Noya and Yahel, and my brother Yossi.”
Sharabi, who was released after 491 days in Hamas captivity, wrote that despite the grief, he chooses life every day.
“Since my release, I choose every morning to live fully, to act and to hope,” he said.
Amid renewed talks in Egypt and discussions surrounding a U.S. plan led by President Donald Trump, Sharabi wrote that he and his family are waiting anxiously.
“These days, my entire family and I are holding our breath, hoping for the return of my brother Yossi for a proper burial, and for the release of my dear friend Alon Ohay and all the hostages.”
Photos attached to the post showed Sharabi with his late brother Yossi — whose body remains held by Hamas terrorists — and with his wife and daughters, set to the song “Yihiye Tov” (“It Will Be Good”) by Israeli singer Jasmin Moallem.
“You’re probably asking why I chose these photos and this song,” he wrote. “This is how I want you to remember my brother Yossi and my beloved wife and daughters, and because I truly believe things will get better. May everyone come home today. Amen.”
Sharabi was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri on the morning of October 7. His wife Lian and daughters Noya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were murdered in the Hamas assault. Since his return, he has taken an active role in efforts to bring home the remaining hostages, including his brother Yossi and Alon Ohay, who was held with him in Gaza.
“We have suffered enough,” Sharabi wrote. “We deserve a different reality. We want to begin to heal.”
Another survivor of Hamas captivity, Maya Regev, also marked the anniversary with an emotional post describing the moment she believed she would die.
“Two years ago was the scariest moment of my life,” she wrote. “The moment I thought it was all over. The moment I met pure evil looking straight into my eyes. The moment I saw my leg hanging by the skin. The moment my entire understanding of the world changed. The moment I thought my father would hear them murdering me on the phone.”
Regev recalled realizing she was surrounded by terrorists as she was taken into Gaza.
“I understood I was surrounded by terrorists, that we were entering Gaza, and there was nothing I could do but stay quiet and do whatever they asked. My pulse was racing, my body shaking in terror, until the moment I came back to Israel and hugged my parents. Thank God I’m here. Thank God Omer and Itay are here.”
She remembered her fellow captives — Guy Illouz, who was held with her and later murdered in captivity, and Ori Danino, who saved her life but was also killed in Gaza almost 11 months after his abduction.
“I think about the angels we lost that day — the people who ran beside me and didn’t make it home, the girl who went with me to the bushes when it all started, and I don’t know what happened to her. I think about Ori Danino, of blessed memory, who saved my life and is gone, and I’ll never get to hug him or thank him. I think about Guy Illouz, of blessed memory, who is always with me. He was one of my few moments of light in captivity, and he took his last breath beside me. Every day I pray they bring him home for burial, so his parents can say goodbye.”
Regev ended her post with a message for the hostages still held by Hamas.
“I think about my brothers who are still there, decaying in the tunnels. Two years have passed since that moment, and they are still living in the same fear, the same hunger, the same heartbreak. I can only pray that these are their last days there, that they return soon and receive the gift I received — the gift of life. May we know better days soon, and may this nightmare end already. We can’t take it anymore.”
Another freed hostage, Emily Damari, who was released in the first stage of the second hostage deal, also shared her feelings on Instagram, dedicating her post to her friends Gali and Ziv Berman, who remain in Hamas captivity.
“I came back in body after 471 days in Hamas captivity,” she wrote. “But I haven’t come back in spirit. I haven’t gone to parties, to concerts, or on vacations — even eating often feels wrong. Sometimes it’s hard for me to truly love. It feels wrong to breathe clean air. But the hardest thing is hugging my mother without feeling terrible that I can, and you can’t hug your mother, Talia.”
“I miss you,” Damari continued. “I’m dying to hug you. I want you to come back soon so I can finally begin to heal — not just physically, but also in my soul.”