Four days was all Maayan Idan had to experience the first flushes of adulthood before armed Hamas terrorists violently burst into her family's home at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, less than half a mile from Gaza, in the early hours of October 7, 2023. Balloons and cards from her 18th birthday still adorned their home as Maayan and her terrified family fled to their safe room. In a desperate attempt to prevent the masked attackers from entering, Maayan spent dreadful moments clamping down on the door handle with her father, Tsachi. They were ultimately overpowered, and a burst of bullets flew into the darkened room, fatally striking Maayan. Tsachi held his eldest child's lifeless body, covered in her blood, realizing she had succumbed to her wounds.

Still in their pyjamas, Tsachi, his wife Gali, and their two youngest children, Yael, 11, and Shachar, 9, were then ordered to sit on the living room floor, mere feet from Maayan's body. Adding to their torment, one of the Hamas captors forced Gali to open her phone and begin streaming their plight on Facebook Live. Due to the chaos erupting across Israel, it took another 24 hours for their UK-based cousin, Adam Ma'anit, to learn the sickening truth of what had happened to his family. Even two years on, the footage remains disquieting, showing the family begging for their lives amidst gunfire and grenades. The ordeal ended with Gali, Yael, and Shachar being spared, but they watched as Tsachi, then 49, was forcibly taken away to Gaza. The family would never see him alive again.

Maayan, a keen volleyball player, was one of approximately 1,200 people who lost their lives on that fateful day, marking the worst atrocity committed against Jewish people since the Holocaust. Tsachi became one of 251 hostages taken to Gaza, where he was subsequently murdered by his captors. His body was returned to the family almost 500 days later as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Adam Ma'anit, a communications manager from Brighton, East Sussex, revealed that the emotional and psychological pain of what he describes as the 'horror videos' streamed from inside the Idan family home has not dulled. He shared that he thinks about it every day, seeing flashing images in his mind, and lamented seeing a more gruesome video of Maayan's actual death, wishing he hadn't. He reflected on Maayan's lost future, her new driving license, first romance, and love for volleyball.

The livestreamed videos, endured by the Idan family and others, are now central to a £1 billion class action lawsuit filed in August by victims of the October 7 attacks and their families against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. A key claim is that Facebook became a 'tool for terror' and was used by Hamas to publicize their barbaric actions, with Meta's algorithms reportedly promoting the live stream to many unconnected individuals. Adam's family is spearheading this lawsuit, arguing that Meta failed to implement promised safety measures after previous terror incidents like Christchurch and Buffalo.

The trauma for Adam was compounded by the knowledge that Maayan was not the first in his family murdered by Hamas. Orly Ofir, a cousin through another branch of his family, was just 16 when she was killed by a Hamas suicide bomber in March 2002 during the Second Intifada, targeted in a restaurant in Haifa specifically because it was a place of co-existence. Her father also watched her die in his arms, a tragic parallel to Tsachi's experience with Maayan. Adam also recalled his grandmother, Mina Akerfeld, who escaped Nazi Germany in 1933 and was abducted by Arab League fighters in 1948 before being released, leading him to cling to hope for Tsachi's return.

After Tsachi's abduction, Adam became a fervent advocate for hostage families. Despite signs of life, including a video released by Hamas and reports from released hostages, the hope proved fragile. In February 2025, the family received news that Tsachi's name was on a list for release, leading Adam to fly to Israel with cautious optimism. However, midway through his flight, he received the devastating information that Tsachi had died in captivity. The family then faced an agonizing 12-hour wait for official confirmation, as Tsachi's body was so mutilated it was difficult to identify. Tsachi was subsequently laid to rest next to Maayan, finally allowing his mother, Devorah, wife Gali, and surviving children Yael, Shachar, and Sharon (who was not home during the attack) to grieve.

As the second anniversary of the October 7 attack approached on a Tuesday, Israelis gathered across the country to commemorate the victims and call for the release of the remaining 48 hostages from Gaza. Unofficial ceremonies were held in the southern kibbutzim, and a large rally took place in Tel Aviv. At the Nova music festival site, where over 370 people were killed, mourners gathered at 6:29 AM, the precise time of the attack, for a minute of silence. The collective trauma of the deadliest single attack in Israel's history continues to loom large, with pictures of hostages plastered on bus stops and charred homes serving as grim reminders.

This anniversary has been shadowed by hopes of an impending end to the war in Gaza. Negotiators from Hamas and Israel met indirectly in Egypt, discussing a deal for the release of all hostages, the return of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and an initial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. While still far from finalized, these negotiations have generated more enthusiasm than previous peace efforts. Benjamin Netanyahu expressed hopes for a hostage release 'in the coming days,' while Donald Trump threatened Hamas with 'total obliteration' if a deal isn't reached. Commemoration events have often been repurposed into rallies urging the government to accept Trump's plan to bring the hostages home and end the war.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Palestinians await a ceasefire amidst ongoing Israeli strikes. According to the Gaza health ministry, at least 19 people were killed in Gaza over the past 24 hours. The ministry reports that over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and approximately 170,000 wounded by Israel in Gaza. A famine is reportedly unfolding in parts of the strip, which the world's leading authority on food crises attributes to an Israeli blockade, a claim Israel denies. A UN commission of inquiry, several human rights groups, and genocide scholars have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza over the past two years, an accusation Israel denies, maintaining its actions are self-defense.

Back in the UK, Adam Ma'anit continues to advocate for the release of the remaining hostages. His concerns also extend to his adopted home, where October 7 has unleashed a significant surge in antisemitism. The Community Security Trust (CST) reported 1,521 antisemitic incidents between January and June 2025, the second-highest total ever recorded for a first half-year, following the record 2,019 incidents in the first six months of 2024 post-Hamas attacks. Adam, speaking the morning after an Islamist terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue left two dead, voiced his profound fears: 'October 7 uncorked the most evil genie. We know it's not going back into the bottle – it's out there, loud and proud, and tolerated quite well in most of the societies where it's thriving. I'm really afraid for the future of our country.'