Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and his wife, Allison, CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper, State Department antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun and other administration officials joined the families of former hostages and victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel for a commemoration event on Wednesday at the State Department.

The commemoration took place a week after the third anniversary of the attacks.

Rubio and Lutnick played a central role in organizing the event to honor the 46 Americans killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, following advocacy by Ruby Chen — father of Itay Chen, an American who served in the IDF and was killed on Oct. 7 — and other bereaved families, several of whom delivered remarks.

Others in attendance included Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Sebastian Gorka, the senior director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council.

Rubio spoke about the U.S.’ commitment to foreign engagement and the need to fight for Western civilization, according to Doug Maguire, policy director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, which helped support the event, which was closed to the press. Rubio was joined by Lutnick, who spoke about his feeling of personal connection to the Oct. 7 attacks, having lost his brother, friends and co-workers in the 9/11 attacks, which destroyed his firm’s New York office. 

Lutnick was heavily involved in advocacy for the hostages and has spoken previously about how his experience during 9/11 has brought him closer to the hostage families.

Cooper spoke about CENTCOM’s efforts as well as offered praise for the U.S. citizens who have enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces and lost their lives protecting Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 and in the subsequent war in Gaza, describing that level of commitment as an uncommon bond that the U.S. cannot take for granted.

Cooper, who said he has attended dozens of memorial services in connection to the Oct. 7 attacks, also displayed a replica of the dog tags worn by Itay Chen — an IDF tank commander and U.S. citizen killed on Oct. 7 whose body was held by Hamas for more than two years — which Ruby Chen gave to Cooper at Itay’s funeral.

Cooper said he has carried them daily and kept them close to his heart.

Lutnick credited Chen and Allison Lutnick as the driving force behind bringing the memorial ceremony together. Maguire also credited Kaploun as playing a critical role in steering and advocating for it.

Chen recounted his son’s upbringing and life story, and his decision to enlist in the IDF instead of going off to college. He said he still struggles to speak about Hamas’ decision to hold his son’s body for more than two years as a “bargaining chip,” denying him the “most basic human dignity” of being laid to rest by his family.

“We could not even begin to grieve. Every night we went to sleep waiting for a call from the White House telling us Itay was coming home. It was the call we prayed for every night, and disappointed when that call did not happen,” Chen said. “I tell you this not because our story is unique, but because it is not. On Oct. 7, 12 American citizens were taken hostage into Gaza. Close to 50 were killed by Hamas. In this room are family members like ours who have lived their own version of those days.”

He said that the memorial event sends an important message to the families.

“This recognition, here in Washington, in the shadow of Oct. 7, tells our families something we needed to hear: Your loved ones were Americans. The United States remembers them,” Chen said.

But he added that the ceremony must be the start, not the end.

He called on Congress to launch its own investigation into the attacks to find the facts for the Americans killed and their families, with the Israeli government refusing to appoint its own commission.

He urged the federal government to make the memorial event an annual one, and to create a formal memorial in Washington displaying the names of the American citizens killed. 

And he said that the U.S. must seek justice and consequences for those responsible for the attacks, including the financiers living abroad, who he said should be brought to trial in the United States.

“Itay chose to stand guard. Now it is our turn to stand guard: over their memory, over the truth, and over the promise we make in this room today,” Chen said.

Before leaving for its October recess, the Senate passed a resolution led by Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) honoring the 46 Americans killed and held hostage by Hamas, and urging continued engagement with the families and legal accountability for those responsible for the attacks.

Abbey Onn, the cousin of Carmela Dan — an 80-year-old grandmother taken hostage and killed alongside her 13-year-old granddaughter — said in a statement, “October 7 was not only a tragedy for Israel. Nearly 50 American citizens were murdered, and dozens more were injured. These were our loved ones—people with families who loved them and futures that were stolen from them. We are here to make sure their stories are heard, their memories are honored, and those responsible for their murders are brought to justice.”

Lutnick, Kaploun and the families of the victims are also set to attend a dinner on Wednesday evening hosted by the Jewish Federations of North America.

In a statement, the families also offered thanks to the government, the Lutnick family, the American Jewish Committee, Brownstein Hyatt Barber Schreck, Jeff Miller and his firm Miller Strategies for helping to bring the event together.