Israel marks 3 years since October 7 attack with memorials and protests

JERUSALEM — 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 Oct. 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 held a national minute of reflection, joined by various public hospitals, local municipalities, universities and private businesses.

Memorial events also took place at the Nova festival site in the Re'im Forest, where more than 370 people were murdered and 44 were abducted.

Speaking at a memorial ceremony at the Nova festival site, President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to both those killed and those who survived the attack. "Let us not forget the lives lost here, let us not forget the lives that survived here," Herzog said, adding that survivors had shown remarkable resilience as they sought healing and "insist on returning to dance."

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett spoke at a concrete shelter where Hamas gunmen killed attendees of the Nova festival who had sought safety there. "Here on this ground three years ago the terrorists murdered our sons and daughters, something happened that should never have happened in the State of Israel, a terrible disaster," he said.

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.'"

Hostage survivor Eli Sharabi, who was hosting Wednesday's national memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv, said in opening remarks released ahead of the event: "In the name of the murdered and the fallen and for the sake of future generations, we will testify and tell what happened on the day the sky fell on us. We will remember them all, and we will never forget."

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 had 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 Health.

In contrast to the official ceremonies, most of Wednesday's commemoration events are grassroots efforts, organized by survivors and victims of the October 7 attack, including the October Council and the Kumu movement.

A recurring demand by both groups is to establish a state commission of inquiry, the most powerful investigative mechanism in Israeli law empowered to examine national-level disasters and decisions. Netanyahu has consistently resisted such calls for three years and has not appointed any other special inquiry to investigate the failures that day.

Einav Zangauker, mother of freed hostage Matan Zangauker and one of the most vocal critics of the government, wrote Tuesday on X: "Three years since the day that changed my life and our lives as a people. Three years of loss and pain. Three years of a basic demand for accountability. For those we lost, for those who returned and whose lives were changed forever, and for a country that deserves hope and repair."

The anniversary falls less than three weeks from the October 27 election in which accountability has become a central campaign issue. Netanyahu's rivals have stepped up their criticism and have turned the anniversary into to a focal point of their campaign, especially after a string of media reports alleging that Israel received preliminary warnings from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt ahead of the attack.

"This is a very deep failure," said Gadi Eisenkot, currently polling as Netanyahu's main challenger in the elections. He accused the prime minister of dodging a state commission of inquiry.

"Netanyahu knows better than anyone why he is running from the truth, why he wants to bury the truth," he said at a recent conference. Eisenkot, whose son was killed in Gaza during the war, will spend the day visiting Israeli communities along the Gaza border, as will former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, another Netanyahu rival.

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