Israel marked the first anniversary of the devastating Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war in the Middle East, on Monday, October 7, 2024, which is now at risk of spiraling into a broader conflict.
Ceremonies and protests have taken place all over Israel, with some of them starting as early as 6:30 am, the hour when Hamas launched rockets into Israel and started the heinous attack.
Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by many Western governments, killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Notably, almost 300 people, led by the families of hostages gathered outside Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, holding photos of their loved ones, and took a minute of silence while a siren sounded.
The horror of October 7 is yet to pass, as many families mourn their loved ones
Some of the families of the hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on October 7, spoke to international media. One of these individuals was Yuval Baron, whose father-in-law, Keith Seigel is still a hostage in Gaza. “We’re still stuck on October 7th, 2023, in one unending day of terror, of fear, of anger, of despair,” said Baron.
He added, “We wanted to start this day together to remind ourselves, our prime minister, and the public of Israel that even though it is a day of grief there is still a holy mission to bring back the hostages.”
A year after one of the largest mass kidnappings ever took place, 117 hostages have been released. Most of them were released as part of prisoner exchanges in November 2023. International media has widely reported that out of the hostages that are still held in captivity by Hamas, 64 are presumed to be alive.
Israeli authorities have also reported that 70 hostages have been killed since October 7, 2023. The IDF has successfully recovered the bodies of 37 hostages who died in captivity, and three hostages that were killed by Israeli soldiers after they mistook them for Palestinians.
A ceremony was held in Reim, the site of the music festival where more than 360 people were killed
A year ago, Reim was the site of a cheerful music festival, but it is now one of the landmarks of the October 7 attacks. It was here that Hamas killed 360 people, and took many hostages back to Gaza.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog was in charge of presiding the memorial ceremony which began with the last track that was played at the music festival a year ago.
In his statement, Herzog said, “We will remember always who kidnapped, who murdered, who raped, who slaughtered. At the same time, we have also seen extraordinary fortitude. We have a wonderful people and on this day we strengthen it and call for unity.”
Security forces across the country were placed on high alert on Monday, as the military and Israeli law enforcement said there could be some Palestinian attacks planned for the anniversary of the terrorist attack took place.
In Gaza, the IDF said its aircraft has already prevented a rocket attack planned by Hamas.
Now, the focus of the year-long war has shifted north, with Israel undertaking “special ground operations” in southern Lebanon, and killing over 1,000 people in that country in the last two weeks.
The Middle East now hangs by a thread, as Iran also launched an unprecedented missile attack on Israel, causing the fears of a regional war to increase considerably.
