Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described October 7 as “the darkest day” in Jewish history since the Holocaust
Vigils, rallies and memorial events were held in Israel and beyond on Monday, to mark one year since the October 7 Hamas attacks.
The assault, which saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and 251 civilians taken hostage, led to intense military retaliation by Israel and escalating tensions across the Middle East.
Its aftershocks still ripple one year later. As well as the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is now fighting a new war against Hezbollah.
On Monday, both of those groups made their presence felt.
Hamas launched rockets that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, as well as closer to the Gaza border.
There were also reports that Hezbollah rockets had hit Israel’s third largest city, Haifa, early on Monday causing injuries but no deaths.
Against that backdrop, Israel went ahead with its planned commemorations, which included a state ceremony at Mount Herzl to remember fallen soldiers and the civilian lives lost.
“One year ago today, our country’s history was forever changed,” the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, posted in a statement on X.
At 6:30 am on Monday – the exact hour Hamas launched its attack – the families of those killed at the Nova music festival gathered at the site where almost 400 civilians were gunned down or taken hostage.
After briefly playing the same trance music that was blared during the festival, hundreds of family members and friends of the victims stood for a moment of silence.
Remembrance ceremonies were also scheduled in Ofakim, Sderot, and Nir Oz, as well as at several other kibbutz sites that were attacked that day.
The flags at the Israeli Knesset were lowered to half-staff and an official state ceremony focusing on acts of bravery and hope was due to be aired on Monday evening.
The ceremony was prerecorded without an audience, apparently to avoid potential disruptions.
Meanwhile, people gathered in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to use the anniversary to repeat their call for the release of the hostages still being held in Gaza.
Around 100 hostages are still being held captive in Gaza, though it is unclear how many are still alive.
Anger at the government’s failure to prevent the attack and enduring frustration that it has not returned the remaining hostages prompted the demonstration.
That event had been set to draw tens of thousands of people but was scaled back drastically over prohibitions on large gatherings due to the threat of missile attacks from Iran and Hezbollah.
In the UK, Sir Keir Starmer described October 7, 2023 as “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust” and said that “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since.
While reiterating calls for a ceasefire, Starmer said that “we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community” as he marked the first anniversary.
US Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she was “devastated by the loss and pain of the Israeli people” in a statement on Monday.
She added that she was “heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza” and said it was “far past time” for a ceasefire deal.
In the days leading up to the anniversary, Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza, southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah as its stronghold.
A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday and Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque in Gaza on Sunday killed at least 19 people.
Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 41,909 Palestinians and wounded 97,303 since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry said on Monday.
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