
Hundreds of bereaved families, concerned citizens, social activists, and former observation soldiers set out on a nearly 20 mile march from Kibbutz Nahal Oz to Ofakim last week to commemorate soldiers who fell on October 7 and call for an immediate state commission of inquiry into the internal military circumstances that led to the day’s events.
At the foot of Givat Kobi in Sderot, overlooking the northern Gaza Strip, Rafi Ben Shitrit, former mayor of Beit She’an and father of the fallen soldier Sgt. Shimon Alroy Ben Shitrit, addressed the participants.
“We are marching to demand the establishment of a state commission of inquiry,” he said. “It is not a question of right and left, of with Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] or against Bibi, of living on the periphery or in the center. Such stances are irrelevant. We simply demand a state commission of inquiry.”

Nirit Baram, whose son Sgt. Neta Baram was killed at his post on October 7, also took part in the march.
“It is clear to us that there were military oversights—the wall, soldiers without weapons, the equipment. Omissions were everywhere,” Baram told Davar. “It is impossible to ignore what happened. The commission of inquiry should be objective, and we want those responsible to pay the price, to bear the consequences for their actions.”
At first, she said, she supported opening a commission of inquiry only after the end of the war, but she changed her mind upon seeing the war drag on.
Many of the soldiers killed or taken hostage on October 7 were field observers, a unit of women soldiers tasked with monitoring the borders. Following October 7, outrage broke out in Israel as it became clear that many field observers had warned about an apparent impending invasion from Gaza and had been ignored.
Yahel Oren, who served as a field observer about 10 years ago, struggled to process the violence to field observers that took place on October 7. Her battalion and others opened up WhatsApp groups to discuss and support each other, and after a video of field observers being taken hostage was made public, the former soldiers decided to establish a shared forum.
“There was an outburst of desire to join together,” Oren told Davar. “The field observers protested together in order to support the families of the abducted, to shout their cries, and to support the families of the fallen.”

More than 700 former field observers came to the march in a show of support, the oldest of whom enlisted nearly 30 years ago.
“We saw ourselves in the videos,” Oren said. “I saw myself in a shelter, in a place that was just desecrated. The big question is where was the military intelligence when they needed it most? There are hundreds of documents to sort through. This is something that an investigative committee should look into.”
The group established by the women is known as Don’t Close Your Eyes. Oren explained the double meaning of the name by noting that looking away from the observation screens is forbidden for field observers.
Bereaved mother Adi Marciano also spoke at the gathering. Her daughter Noa Marciano was killed on October 7 at the Nahal Oz base where she served as a field observer. Noa’s body was taken into Gaza and recovered in an Israeli military operation 38 days later.
“We need to not lose hope,” Marciano said. “We need to keep our heads high. They deserve to come home. Let there be a commission, so that whoever is guilty will stand up and say he is guilty. We must not forget their voice and this story.”

The march continued from field observers’ memorial to the southern city of Ofakim, where 47 residents were killed on October 7. Participants gathered at the house of Shiral Hogeg, whose sister Elai Hogeg Golan was seriously injured in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when terrorists torched her house. Hogeg became a public figure after giving an interview at the hospital at which his sister was hospitalized that was highly critical of Netanyahu.
“On October 7, the people of Israel experienced a leadership crisis. This awakening to the weakness of our government’s ability to protect the nation is unprecedented. We have been torn apart from the inside and the outside,” Hogeg told Davar while welcoming the protesters to his home. “This march shows that there is no division among the people—all parts of our people suffer from the same governmental chaos that is still going on today. We came together to connect, to heal, and to build something better.”
Hogeg is one of the founders of Kumu, an organization of residents from Israel’s northern and southern borders formed after October 7.
Baram, the grieving mother, expressed the importance of bereaved families coming together.
“Of course there are many differences of opinion, but we all embrace one another as we are all bereaved parents and siblings, and the demand for a state commission of inquiry is agreed upon by all,” she said. “We will pursue justice until the very end.”