NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Family and friends of the victims of the Nova Music Festival in Israel, along with some of its survivors, are taking part in the special exhibition to honor the lives lost on Oct. 7 of last year.
Rotem Sharabi sang a song dedicated to her uncles Yossi and Eli Sharabi, their photos along with dozens others displayed nearby.
They are two of the over 100 hostages that remain in Gaza after the Hamas attack at the Nova Music Festival.
Noa Shemtov spoke about his cousin, Omer Shemtov.
“He’s the sunshine of the family and ever since October 7th, we just don’t have normal life,” he said. “The whole family has been fighting for 400 days doing whatever we can in order to bring him back home.”
Five family members of hostages spoke to crowds at the Nova Exhibition, an immersive experience taking visitors from the joy of the music festival to the terror felt by attendees as Hamas terrorists descended on the festival.
All of the items at the exhibition came from the festival.
The conversation turned political as the families urge the Israeli and U.S. governments to move forward with another hostage deal.
Yehuda Cohen is the father of Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier kidnapped after a tank malfunctioned.
He knows his son would be one of the last ones released in a hostage deal.
“We need a hostage deal, we need a ceasefire, we need IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. There’s nothing to do there,” said Cohen. “He and his team were headed to the border to avoid the Hamas invasion. They were outnumbered. That’s why easily Hamas neutralized the tank, got all of the tank, assassinated three of them on the spot. Omer was the only one taking alive.”
Admission for the exhibit is free, but attendees can donate to an organization that supports survivors and their families. It runs through the end of January.