Three Years On, Israel Marks October 7 Attack Anniversary With Memorials and Demonstrations

Three years to the minute after the start of the deadliest single day in Israel’s history, the country marked the somber occasion with a series of ceremonies, memorials and protests at more than 400 locations.

At 6:29 in the morning on October 7, 2023, Hamas-led gunmen stormed Israeli communities along the border with Gaza, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to the enclave. Those slain included children, women, elderly people and complete families.

The commemoration began with a national moment of silence at the time the attack started. At noon, bereaved families and civil grassroot protest groups will hold a national minute of reflection, joined by various public hospitals, local municipalities, universities and private businesses.

Memorial events will also take place at the Nova festival site in the Re’im Forest, where over 370 people were murdered and 44 were abducted. Additional protest convoys and displays are expected throughout the country all day.

Shir Mathias, whose parents Shachar and Shlomi Mathias were killed during the attack on Kibbutz Holit on the Gaza border, called Tuesday for a change in the country’s leadership.

“Just before we enter October 7, I have one message,” she wrote on X. “Everyone who had their hand on the wheel, those in uniforms and suits alike must go home. I call on all citizens of Israel, change your profile picture to the most self-evident message: ‘Everyone must go home.’”

On Wednesday evening, a national memorial ceremony will be held in Tel Aviv, and tens of thousands are expected to attend. The event is organized by the “Kumu” movement (“Rise Up” in Hebrew), which represents October 7 survivors and victims’ families, and will be hosted by former hostage Eli Sharabi and actress Shani Cohen.

Israel held its official state memorials on Monday. “Even three years after the outbreak of the war — when the State of Israel is stronger than ever — the terrible hours of the Simchat Torah attack remain seared within us,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referencing the Jewish holiday on which the attack happened.

At a cabinet meeting one day later, Netanyahu foreshadowed more war ahead, despite a stalled US-brokered ceasefire agreement one year ago. He said Israel has killed “4,000 out of 6,000” militants who infiltrated Israel on October 7, 2023. “We will reach all of them,” he said, amid near daily Israeli strikes in Gaza. Since the start of the war, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of...👉 read more here