Israel marks anniversary of Hamas-led attack on country that left hundreds dead

Memorial ceremonies were held across Israel on Monday, marking the one-year anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7th. Israel says 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed that day and more than 250 seized and taken into captivity in Gaza. Some 100 hostages are still in Gaza, although Israel has said that some of them have died.
The main memorial ceremony organised by the families of the victims was held at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, with songs and testimonies from relatives. However, because of the fear of rocket attacks the audience was limited to 2,000. The event was broadcast live with community screenings held across Israel.
Yigal Cohen, father of Hadar Cohen, one of many women soldiers killed on the Nahal Oz army base close to the Gaza border, said they were abandoned to their death. “The blood of our daughters cries out to us from the earth. We cannot be silent. With whatever strength we have left, we will make sure that those responsible will be held accountable,” he said.
At 6:29am, the time of the first Hamas rocket salvo from Gaza a year ago, hundreds of protesters gathered close to the Jerusalem home of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, calling for a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
At the same time relatives gathered at the site of the Nova music festival, close to the Gaza border, where 364 people were killed in the worst single massacre of October 7th. The ceremony began with a recording of the final piece of music that was played at the party before the Hamas attack. The Yizkor Jewish memorial prayer was recited, and the national flag was lowered to half-mast.
Forty people were also kidnapped at the festival. As the Nova ceremony got under way, the death was confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of another person seized from the festival, Idan Shtivi (28). He had helped two people escape the attack. The IDF said he was murdered and his body was taken to Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu told ministers at a cabinet meeting on Monday the war against Hamas and Iran’s proxies should be officially called the War of Revival. Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticised the idea.
“There will be no revival until all the abducted and displaced people return to their homes,” he said. “You can change as many names as you want; you will not change the fact that on your watch the most terrible disaster since the establishment of the country happened to the people of Israel.”
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Hamas leader Khaled Mashal said the group’s actions on October 7th “demonstrated the progress of all resistance forces [against Israel] and the strengthening of their capabilities”, adding: “The ‘Al-Aqsa flood’ has brought Israel back to square one and confronted it with an existential dilemma, with many Israelis wishing to leave their country.”
US president Joe Biden said his administration “will never give up until we bring all of the remaining hostages home safely.” In a statement, Mr Biden said the US “supports Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Hizbullah, Hamas, the Houthis and Iran.”
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Vice-president Kamala Harris also issued a statement, describing the attack as pure evil. “It was brutal and sickening. And it has rekindled a deep fear among the Jewish people not just in Israel, but in the United States and around the world.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken called October 7th “the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust”. He said “girls and women were sexually assaulted” and that “the depravity of Hamas’s crimes is almost unspeakable”.