Israel Marks First Anniversary of Hamas’ October Seven Attack

Israel began commemorating the one-year anniversary of Hamas' fatal October 7 attack on Monday, with outpourings of sorrow at vigils at murder sites and demonstrations asking for hostage release.

Ceremonies and festivities are planned across Israel and in cities around the world to commemorate the anniversary of the extraordinary onslaught by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,205 people.

According to AFP, President Isaac Herzog began the day with a moment of silence at 6:29 am — the exact time the attack started — at Kibbutz Reim, the site of the Nova music festival where at least 370 people were killed by heavily armed Hamas fighters in the deadliest attack on October 7.

AFP further reported that Families of those killed attended the memorial, many of them crying, as Herzog met the crowd.

In Tel Aviv, too, families of hostages and supporters gathered before dawn to demand the release of their loved ones, clutching banners and signs with their photographs.

Tens of thousands of people attended demonstrations in cities around the world on Sunday, some to pay respect to the victims of Hamas' attack and others to express solidarity with the Palestinian people following a year of war in Gaza.

 “Coming to this event one year after this terrible massacre that happened on October 7, it’s very touching,” said organiser Solly Laniado at a ceremony on Sunday in Tel Aviv to remember the victims of the Nova attack.

The anniversary coincides with Israel's continued fighting in Gaza and a new battle to the north in Lebanon against Hamas ally Hezbollah.

It is also planning to retaliate against Tehran following an Iranian missile launch last week, which has raised fears of a regional war.

The Israeli army confirmed on Monday that at least four projectiles were fired from Gaza just minutes after the commemorations began, adding it had “struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip”.

Hamas' armed wing said in a statement that its militants fired rockets against "enemy gatherings" at the Rafah crossing, Kerem Shalom crossing, and Kibbutz Holit near Gaza's border.

The military also reported that sirens sounded in northern Israel on Monday morning, after daily rocket fire from neighboring Lebanon.

In a statement, Herzog said the world “must support Israel in its battle against its enemies”.

In the early hours of October 7, 2023, Hamas launched its attack by firing thousands of rockets towards Israeli border communities.

At the same time, Hamas fighters stormed across the border and attacked nearly 50 different sites, including kibbutzim communities, army bases and the Nova music festival.

Militants killed festival-goers en masse and went door-to-door in farming communities, shooting residents dead in their homes.

Hours later, Israel launched a blistering military offensive on Gaza that has reduced swathes of the territory to rubble and displaced nearly all of its 2.4 million residents at least once amid an unrelenting humanitarian crisis.

Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.

Some 251 people were captured and taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, of whom 97 are still held captive in the coastal territory, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

An Israeli campaign group on Monday announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza named Idan Shtivi, 28, who was abducted at the Nova festival.

In retaliation for the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to crush Hamas and to bring home all the hostages.

On Sunday he vowed to achieve victory and said the military had “completely transformed reality” in the year since Hamas’s attack.

“A year ago, we suffered a terrible blow. Over the past 12 months, we have completely transformed reality,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the Lebanon border, according to his office.

He has since expanded the objectives of the war sparked by the attack to include a vow to ensure tens of thousands of Israelis forced to flee Hezbollah fire on northern Israel can return to their homes.

Since last month, Israel has conducted massive strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon and launched ground operations across the border.

The war has killed more than 1,110 people in Lebanon and forced more than one million to flee their homes.

But Israel’s campaign in Gaza is far from over. In the north of the Palestinian territory, the Israeli military said it had encircled the Jabaliya area after indications Hamas was rebuilding there.

Rescuers said 17 people, including nine children, had been killed on Sunday by Israeli air strikes in the area.

AFP.