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Families of victims and survivors of the October 7 Hamas attacks have unveiled a comprehensive dossier titled the "October 7 Files" during a press conference in Tel Aviv, mounting a concerted push to force institutional accountability and an official state investigation into the political and military decisions that preceded the catastrophic assault.
The newly publicized archive contains an extensive compilation of reports, documentation, and records tracking the timeline of the disaster as well as the protracted policy decisions spanning the years leading up to the invasion. Organizers stated that the initiative is intended to dismantle official narratives, expose alleged systemic negligence, and compel the establishment of an independent state commission of inquiry.
Opening the briefing with sharp criticism of the political establishment, Shelly Mashal Yogev, whose daughter Libby Cohen Meguri was murdered at the Nova music festival, questioned how the nation's most devastating catastrophe has managed to evade a formal, comprehensive state investigation while those in power carry on with their routines.
Yogev directed intense scrutiny toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arguing that the disaster was the culmination of calculated governmental policies. She charged that the long-standing strategy aimed at weakening Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas while tolerating Hamas ultimately backfired, fostering the conditions that permitted the militant group to strengthen its hold on the Gaza Strip.
Addressing the logistical and financial dimensions of these past strategies, Yogev pointed out that government policy permitted massive financial transfers and resources into the coastal enclave. She asserted that the influx of Qatari funds and vast shipments of construction materials, notably concrete, provided Hamas with the exact resources utilized to construct subterranean infrastructure where hostages were subsequently held.
Yogev also addressed the operational and intelligence failures preceding the massacre, claiming that explicit alerts raised by the Shin Bet security service were repeatedly disregarded. According to her statements, senior leadership turned down operational proposals to execute targeted strikes against top-tier militant figures ahead of the outbreak of hostilities.
Confronting the prime minister directly, Yogev asserted that a proactive approach against high-ranking commanders, specifically former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, could have drastically altered the course of events and spared the lives of victims like her daughter. She pressed the leadership to explain why earlier targeted operations were withheld despite mounting warning signs.
The bereaved mother argued that the strategic framework governing Gaza for roughly fifteen years was fundamentally broken. She characterized the intelligence and political posture known as the "conception" not merely as an isolated error, but as the inevitable outcome of a decade and a half of deliberate political choices that paved a direct path to the October 7 tragedy.
Adding to the calls for answers, Einav Zangauker, the mother of former Gaza captive Matan Zangauker, condemned what she described as a coordinated campaign by government figures to dodge responsibility for the security posture and decisions that facilitated the disaster.
Zangauker raised pointed questions regarding the multi-year continuation of financial flows into an area openly governed by an adversarial militant entity. She demanded public explanations regarding which specific operational steps were carried out—or neglected—after leadership received warnings, and why strategic policies remained unaltered despite clear indications of danger.
In her address, Zangauker encouraged the broader public to examine the documents contained within the "October 7 Files." She argued that public awareness of the historical record is vital to resisting ongoing political efforts to deflect blame, divide the population, and revise the factual timeline of the failures.
The demand for accountability was extended beyond the prime minister to encompass the entirety of Israel's defense and intelligence apparatus. Natalia Casarotti, whose child Keshet was killed in the attack, insisted that any comprehensive inquiry must scrutinize every operational echelon involved in national security.
Casarotti maintained that an unsparing probe should encompass the prime minister, the defense minister, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, leaders of the political opposition, and the heads of the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the National Security Council, stressing that any official found culpable of failure must face criminal penalties and imprisonment.
The platform also featured remarks from Professor Ephraim Shoham, whose soldier son fell during military operations in Gaza. Shoham reflected on historical political pledges, recalling that the prime minister had long ago committed to entirely eradicating Hamas from power upon taking office.
Shoham pointed out that in the seventeen years that followed those initial promises, Netanyahu held executive office for sixteen of them without dismantling the militant organization's rule. The gathered families concluded the briefing by reaffirming their determination to continue their campaign until a fully empowered state commission of inquiry is established to deliver complete transparency to the public.
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