Haunting Final Calls: Israeli Parents Relive October 7

Three years after the October 7 massacre, parents who received final phone calls from their children share the haunting recordings, the unprocessed fear, and the enduring regrets of conversations cut short.

On the morning of October 7, Michel Ailuz received a call from his son, Guy Ailuz, who was fleeing the Nova music festival. Shot and bleeding, hiding near Route 232, Guy used a friend's phone to call for help. "They killed Alon. I'm hiding in a tree. I took a bullet," Guy told his father. Michel urged him to stay on the line, trying to keep him calm and believing he would survive. He never said a proper goodbye. Guy was later abducted to Gaza, where he died in captivity after 57 days.

Ronit Rahum experienced a similar agonizing ordeal with her pregnant daughter, Nitzan Rahum, who fled the festival with her partner, Lidar Levy. Nitzan called her mother in panic, reporting gunfire on the road. Ronit, failing to grasp the sheer scale of the assault, tried to calm her with slight frustration rather than realizing the mortal danger. Both Nitzan and Lidar were murdered. Today, Ronit finds comfort only in her young grandson, Nil, whose name honors the victims.

Dikla Biton spent hours believing her son, Staff Sgt. Raam Meir Biton, would make it out safely. Raam fought for hours at the Kissufim military outpost before calling home. "I just wanted to say I love you, just in case something happens," he told his mother. Ten minutes later, he was killed. Three years later, Dikla listens to thousands of recorded calls, using his mature perspective to guide her daily life.

These poignant recordings are resurfacing as part of the "Israel Never Forgets" campaign by the Kumu movement, ahead of the memorial ceremony at Yarkon Park.