In the corner of a family living room in a home south of Tel Aviv sits a brightly painted surfboard.
It is adorned with frangipanis, strawberries, turtles and a bottle of sparkling wine, along with the image of a smiling surfer.
This is how the Zender family want to remember their sun-loving, surfing daughter.
"Noa's character was to do at least one good thing a day, and we are trying to keep that going, and keep telling her story because we cannot forget October 7," Noa's mother Mali Zender told the ABC.
On that infamous day, the 22-year-old had travelled south of her home in Rishon LeTsiyon to a field near the Re'im kibbutz — just a short distance from the Gaza border.
Noa was there to dance the weekend away at the Nova music festival.
She was among the hundreds targeted by Hamas fighters who poured across the border in the early hours of the morning.
"At 6:30am the rockets from Gaza started, she was with her boyfriend and ran to hide in the shelter," Ms Zender said.
"She called me by phone and said everything is good and no need to be worried.
"At 7:35am, the connection with her was lost and she did not answer the calls anymore."
Before losing contact, Noa and her boyfriend had sent videos from the shelter they were in and seemed in good spirits.
Understandably fearful, Ms Zender called the police — only to be told the people at the festival were safe.
Not long after, Ms Zender, a hospital nurse, was getting messages calling for her to come into work and help deal with the large number of casualties coming through the doors.
"I arrived at the hospital, and then at 11:16am a female friend of Noa called and told me that Noa is not alive," Ms Zender said, pausing.
"I cried and shouted, a shout of pain, and took myself back home."
For six days, the Zender family had no further information, until a government official phoned and asked where they wanted to bury Noa.
"Trauma, because for all those six days we had hope, and it was so hard to receive that message," Ms Zender said.
During Hamas' attack at the Nova festival, 378 people were killed. Another 44 were taken hostage by Hamas.
Some of those captives have been released. Others remain in Gaza.
In the 18 months since the attack, the Zender family have been searching for answers — particularly what happened to Noa on that day.
Did she suffer? Who was in charge of the response, when Hamas fighters tore through the festival? Who approved the festival, so close to a border which Israeli authorities have described as incredibly dangerous?
Those answers have not been forthcoming from official sources.
"From the country, I am disappointed," Ms Zender said.
Families furious at official investigation
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been conducting investigations into each of the attacks which were launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023 — the day when nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
Those attacks kickstarted the devastating war in Gaza, with Israeli forces reducing much of the territory to rubble and killing more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The findings of the IDF inquiry into the Nova festival massacre were presented to the families of victims earlier this month.
They found that extra security for the Nova festival was not arranged, and that while military commanders were aware of the rave, troops stationed nearby were not given warning.
There were around 3,400 revellers at the Nova festival when Hamas' onslaught began.
By the time 110 armed Hamas terrorists arrived at the highway nearby the site, there were only 35 members of the Israeli security forces at the festival site.
The first soldiers called in to specifically respond to the Hamas attack arrived around 11:30am, around 2.5 hours after gunfire was first reported at the Nova site and 4.5 hours after Hamas' rocket barrage began.
By 3pm the site was "cleared of terrorists," according to the IDF.
Emotions spilled over during briefings.
The ABC has obtained video from inside one of the meetings, where family members can be seen remonstrating with senior IDF officials.
"Who are these people who gave permission for the festival?" one woman shouted.
"You are a coward! These answers are not enough!"
Ms Zender said the IDF staff did not need to receive such treatment, because at least they fronted up.
One of the main criticisms of the investigation is that the IDF probe did not involve Israeli Police and intelligence agencies such as Shin Bet, and what roles they had played in the response to the Hamas attacks.
The other question that remains unanswered is — who was responsible for approving the festival in such a location.
Hila Abir, whose 24-year-old brother Lotan was also murdered at Nova, said the families didn't expect to find out anything from the investigation.
"We have more knowledge than them, we have more facts than them and we know much better what happened to them," she told the ABC.
Ms Abir took issue with the language the IDF used in the briefing.
She said secrecy was also a concern, with people blocked from taking mobile phones into the room.
"I heard the word 'failure' lots of times and a 'mishap', and it sounds like my brother was murdered because of a mishap and there were no answers and conclusions of how to prevent the next October 7th," she said.
"It made us more frustrated and more angry — and, you know, we're also Israeli so we already have a heated blood.
"I think [the IDF] tried to respect us, but they didn't know what to expect … the IDF people didn't expect to see the families like that — but you should know better, you had almost 16 months to investigate."
A wild soul
Ms Abir's face lights up when she is asked to describe her young brother.
As painful as his loss is, she cannot help but smile when she remembers him.
"A wild soul, a nature boy — Lotan came to this world to spread the seeds of love, and that's what he's been doing since he was born," she said.
"He knew his life was short and he celebrated every minute, every minute — sometimes on the edge in a bit of a dangerous way, but I wish to live half of what he did in his 24 years and 5 months of his life.
"Lotan was my little baby — I'm the eldest [sibling], he's the youngest, we are 15 years apart."
In speaking out about the flaws in the investigation, and the government's refusal to launch a nationwide inquiry into October 7, Ms Abir believes she is protecting his legacy.
"Israel is bleeding," she said.
"My biggest wish is that the Israeli society will unite and understand the government is not working for the people.
"And hopefully we'll go to elections soon and we'll change the reality of Israel.
"Maybe [Lotan] is protecting us, through me?"
Healing through helping
Ms Zender's experience as a grieving mother of an October 7 victim is unique.
Not only is she mourning the loss of her daughter, but she has been helping some of those returning.
Ms Zender is the head of nursing at Tel Aviv's Sheba Hospital, where many of the hostages released by Hamas during this year's ceasefire were brought hours after being freed from Gaza.
"My job is charging me with energy — a day without working it's a hard day and slow day," she said.
"When I work, I feel Noa escorting me. She is with me."
Ms Zender has been present as some of the released captives walked through the hospital doors to be reunited with family.
"It was a mixed emotional feeling every second," she said.
"When I was there [at the hospital], I was there for one reason — it's to help and to be by their side.
"But when I get out, I felt that I missed something — maybe I missed my Noa, because some of those kidnapped from Nova have now come back."
IDF and PMO response
The IDF said the purpose of presenting the findings of its investigations into the attacks on October 7, such as the massacre at the Nova site, was part of acknowledging the tragedy.
"The IDF failed on October 7 — our job is to protect, and we did not do that," an IDF official told the ABC.
"Every person in Israel knows somebody who has been murdered, injured, kidnapped.
"The inquiries are part of the foundation of restoring the trust of the community.
"The deep grief that those families feel is of course understandable, and we express our sorrow and solidarity."
The IDF official said the military did cooperate with Israeli Police during its inquiry of what happened at the Nova site, sharing its finding with the national crime unit Lahav 443.
That group is undertaking further investigations into the deaths on October 7 2023.
With regards to who approved the Nova festival being held so close to the Gaza border, the IDF said there were "other processes underway."
"The general goal of these initial inquiries is not to identify 'he's the one who approved it,' or 'that's the individual to be assigned personal blame and responsibility to,'" the official said.
"The inquiries are looking into the battles of the day."
Family members were asked not to bring phones into the briefing, although the IDF said they were not banned.
"The setting … was that of a military briefing," the IDF official said.
"In that setting, there are certain steps being taken to maintain the sensitivity."
