Eurovision runner-up Yuval Raphael to return to Nova to perform three years after massacre

Three years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacres in southern Israel, Eurovision runner-up and Nova festival survivor Yuval Raphael will return to the site in Re’im to perform at a memorial for the attacks.

“It's very difficult for me to go back there; it's very painful and even scary to stand in front of all the dear people who lost the most precious thing and sing, but this is the only and exact place where I want and need to be, and I'm grateful for the huge privilege of doing it," Raphael said in a statement ahead of the event, which will take place on the third anniversary of the massacres.

The event is being organized by the families of those killed at the Nova festival along with the Nova Tribe Community Association.

“The ceremony will be dedicated to honoring the memory of the partygoers from the Nova, Mushroom, Psyduck, and Midburn festivals who were brutally murdered that day,” the Nova Tribe Community Association said in a statement.

Raphael, who came in second place in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025 with her debut single, “New Day Will Rise,” performed at the Kumu memorial, the major civilian event marking the anniversary, last year.

Kumu, Nova memorial events to be held on October 7 evening

This year, both Kumu and Nova will hold their memorial events on Wednesday evening, the Gregorian calendar anniversary of the attacks.

While the Kumu event is set to take place in Tel Aviv and honors victims from across the October 7 attacks, the Nova memorial focuses on those killed from the rave communities.

There, at the Nova festival three years ago, Raphael was among the survivors as Hamas terrorists and others stormed the festival. Terrorists murdered 378 people, making it the deadliest single site of the massacres. Forty-four people were taken hostage.

Raphael herself hid in a roadside bomb shelter with at least 40 others crammed inside. Soon afterward, terrorists found the shelter and began firing inside.

Many of those inside with her were killed. For seven hours, she lay still, covered in blood and pretending to be dead beneath the bodies of those killed until security forces finally arrived.

Association CEO: Return to Re'im 'painful,' but we do so to honor legacy of loved ones

“Returning to Re’im is painful, but it is where we come together to remember our loved ones and honor their legacy,” said Reef Peretz, CEO of the Nova Tribe Community Association.

Hila Lior, the sister of Matan Mordechai Lior, who was killed during the attacks, said, “We come together as families and a community to remember our loved ones with love and longing.”

Alongside Raphael, other singers slated to perform at the Nova memorial include Benaia Barabi, Ninet Tayeb, Amir Benayoun, and Shuli Rand. President Isaac Herzog is also expected to attend.

Those interested in supporting the Nova Tribe Community Association can do so here.