Families of Americans killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel said a State Department memorial event honoring their loved ones offered a meaningful recognition of their loss, with some calling on the U.S. government to take further action and investigate the attacks.

The State Department, in coordination with the American Jewish Committee, held a memorial service on Wednesday honoring the 46 Americans killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. The ceremony brought together senior Trump administration officials, lawmakers and family members of the Americans killed in the attacks.

Families who spoke with Jewish Insider after the ceremony described it as deeply moving, praising the administration’s efforts to honor their loved ones and saying they felt their stories had been heard. Some also stressed the importance of sharing those stories to counter antisemitism and preserve the memory of the attacks.

Alon Mesika, whose son Adir was murdered at the Nova music festival, said the ceremony stood apart from other memorials he had attended. Adir, who was born in New York in 2000, was killed after he and two friends tried to keep Hamas-led attackers from entering a shelter where he and other festivalgoers had sought refuge.

“I went to a lot of ceremonies, and this was something else. I felt it was something else. First of all, America invited us,” Mesika said. He described feeling deeply honored and physically shaken by the ceremony. “I was shivering all over the whole time. I was about to cry a little bit, but I kept it to myself. It was special.”

David Brief, whose son Yona died in November 2024 from injuries sustained fighting Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, said he came away with the impression that President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick understood the gravity of their experience and the broader significance of the attacks.

“I think he touched us because he understood where we’re coming from and what’s important to us,” Brief said of Rubio. “He knew how to speak to us, and he said the things that we wanted to hear.”

Brief said the ceremony reinforced his belief that the attacks should be remembered as part of a broader struggle against terrorism, not solely as a tragedy for Israel.

“We’re on the front lines, and that’s the reason why it’s so important to memorialize this — not just for what happened, but for what we need to do to prevent it,” he said.

Naomi Weiser — the mother of IDF Staff Sgt. Roy Weiser, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier killed while defending fellow service members during the Oct. 7 attacks — said the memorial was an important opportunity to share the stories of those who died.

Weiser said her son was stationed at an army base that served as a crossing point for humanitarian aid between Gaza and Israel when Hamas attacked. She said he and fellow soldiers fought for hours to defend the base and protect others from the attackers.

“Their stories being told is very important,” Weiser said. “There’s so much miscommunication going on in the world, so much antisemitism. They [antisemites] have one story, we have another, and the more our stories get told, the more we need the world’s support.”

Weiser said she hopes the event will help ensure that the stories of those killed during the attacks are heard more widely.

“It’s one of the reasons why it’s so important that we have the support of the State Department and all the organizations that brought us here today to get our stories out and to help combat this,” she said.

Beyond calling for the memorial to become an annual event, some families said they want the U.S. government to go a step further by investigating the attacks and pursuing accountability.

Ruby Chen, whose son Itay, an American-Israeli IDF soldier, was killed by Hamas on Oct. 7 and whose body was held in Gaza until November 2025, told JI that Congress should push for an investigation because Israel has yet to establish a state commission of inquiry, leaving families without answers or accountability for the American lives lost.

Several other families echoed his call for a U.S.-led investigation.

“If Israel is not capable of creating an investigation committee, then I think it is suitable and appropriate that the good people of the United States, the people in Congress, do provide us the answers that we’re looking for,” Chen said. “We’ve been waiting for [more than 1000] days to get those answers, and we have not gotten them.”

Chen also urged Congress to summon Israeli officials, including members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, to testify before an impartial inquiry.

“The United States has all the data, all the intelligence the Israelis provided them in real time. There’s no lack of knowledge,” Chen said. “Nobody should be afraid of the honest facts, including the prime minister.”

Chen also called on the Justice Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to pursue people he alleges helped finance Hamas, arguing that the U.S. should bring those responsible to justice in American courts.

“We know who these people are. We know the bank accounts,” Chen said. “The United States could do much more to suck out the oxygen from these terrorist organizations” and “bring these people to justice on United States soil.”

“I think [this] is the advocacy that we wish to see happening [in] Congress, that they would motivate the administration to do more on that topic,” he added.

Tom Shalom, whose 24-year-old brother Ram was killed by Hamas terrorists while trying to flee the Nova music festival, said his family still has unanswered questions about his death and similarly called for an investigation.

He said his family was not allowed to see Ram’s body before the funeral, adding that his family knows only that Ram took a rifle and fought back, while his mother continues to ask every day what happened to her son. 

“We really want an investigation about it and what happened exactly, because in Israel it’s not happening right now,” Shalom said. “I feel way more respect here [in the U.S.] than I have in Israel … It’s very important for us, and I hope it will come from — if it will not come from Israel, then from here [the U.S.].”