Israel Marks Three Years Since October 7 Attack

Israel on Wednesday marked three years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack with silent tributes at key sites, new strikes in Gaza and growing political debate ahead of elections in which the assault is expected to remain a central issue.

At the site of the Nova music festival, where Hamas fighters opened fire on attendees at dawn on October 7, families of those killed gathered in remembrance. While many stood in silence, others chose music as a tribute to loved ones who died at the festival.

Similar commemorations were held at Kfar Aza kibbutz, another site where people were killed during the attack.

AFP reporters at both locations heard explosions from across the Gaza border as Israel carried out new strikes despite a ceasefire that has officially been in place for the past year.

Gaza officials said at least two people were killed in overnight Israeli strikes. Much of the territory has been reduced to rubble following years of Israeli bombardment launched in response to the October 7 attack.

At the Nova site, Katia Zohar remembered her 23-year-old daughter, Bar, who was killed during the assault. She described 6:29 am, when the attack began, as the moment that permanently changed her family’s life.

Zohar recalled receiving calls from her daughter asking to be picked up after missiles were launched, followed by another call in which Bar screamed that gunmen were shooting at her.

Anna Davitashvili, 53, also returned to Nova to honour her eldest son, Shaun, who was 25 when he was killed alongside friends. She played the final techno track that festivalgoers had been dancing to when the attack began, saying she felt his presence at the site and regretted being unable to save him.

“I feel him here. I’m terribly sorry that I couldn’t save him, I couldn’t help him get out of this massacre,” she said, tears filling up her eyes.

The anniversary comes less than three weeks before Israel holds elections on October 27, the first national vote since the attack.

Opinion polls indicate a closely fought contest involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has overseen the Gaza offensive as well as military campaigns involving Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran, which supports Hamas.

At the Nova site, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is seeking to unseat Netanyahu, described October 7 as a catastrophic failure by the Israeli state to fulfil its responsibility to protect its citizens.

“This was a colossal failure of the state of Israel, which was established to defend Jews in our land,” he said. 

The centre-left Democrats Party also used the anniversary to criticise the government, releasing footage of the attack without commentary.

 Party leader Yair Golan argued that the government had failed to remove Hamas from power in Gaza after three years of war and described that failure as a danger to Israel.

“A government that for three years has not destroyed Hamas’s rule is a government dangerous to Israel,” Democrats leader Yair Golan said.

Netanyahu held official commemorations in Jerusalem on Monday, following the anniversary according to the Jewish calendar. He vowed that those responsible for the attack would not be forgiven and said Hamas would never be allowed to govern Gaza, despite the group suffering major losses while retaining control over parts of the territory.

The October 7 assault profoundly affected Israel’s national psyche, challenging a long-held belief that the country’s security forces could protect its borders despite the threats surrounding it.

Palestinian fighters breached the Gaza border that morning, attacking southern Israel with gunfire, rockets and grenades.

According to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, 1,221 people were killed.

The attackers also abducted 251 hostages and took them into Gaza, with 44 of those hostages subsequently reported dead.

The final living hostages were released a year ago under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that halted Hamas’s attacks on Israel.

Israeli military operations have since declined but continued, with Netanyahu maintaining that those involved in the October 7 assault must be killed.

Israel’s military campaign has displaced almost Gaza’s entire population and killed more than 74,200 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. The United Nations considers the ministry’s casualty figures reliable.