Israelis gathered Wednesday to mark the October 7, 2023, attack that left 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages, triggering a war in Gaza that has devastated the territory and pushed its 2 million residents into desperate conditions.
Across southern Israel, families grieved at road junctions, bomb shelters and the site of the Nova music festival, where Hamas-led militants carried out the deadliest assault in Israel’s history three years ago.
This is the first anniversary since every hostage returned home, ushering in a new and painful chapter of mourning.
At a portrait of Yevgeni Postel, a 25-year-old student, his mother placed a bouquet of flowers before collapsing in tears.
“These are our heroes — the greatest children of Israel,” a police officer said while viewing portraits of colleagues killed in the attack.
At Kfar Aza kibbutz, another community devastated on October 7, mourners sat quietly in rows of chairs as an Israeli flag was raised.
For Palestinians, meanwhile, the anniversary is another day marked by hardship and deprivation after Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza killed tens of thousands of people.
Much of the territory’s population of roughly 2 million now lives in sprawling, unsanitary tent camps, while entire sections of Gaza’s cities have been reduced to ruins.
People gather at the Nova music festival site to mark the third anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel
Israeli soldiers and civilians commemorate the third anniversary of October 7, 2023
Relatives mourn and pay tribute at the Nova festival memorial site
Elkana Bohbot, 37, is observing the anniversary in Israel for the first time after his release last year from 738 days in captivity
More than half of Gaza remains under Israeli military control. And although a ceasefire agreement was reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes have continued almost every day.
The anniversary also underscores how dramatically the wider region has changed over the past three years.
Israeli forces occupy a substantial part of southern Lebanon amid their conflict with Hezbollah, which began launching attacks on Israel in 2023 in support of Hamas.
Iran and the United States are locked in a confrontation that has brought attacks to countries across the Arab Gulf and rattled the global economy. Israel helped set that conflict in motion, while the Gaza war created the conditions for its escalation, even though the two conflicts were not directly linked.
Elkana Bohbot, 37, is marking the anniversary in Israel for the first time since he was freed last year after 738 days as a hostage.
For most of his captivity, Bohbot said, he was held about 50 meters, or 165 feet, below ground in a dark and damp tunnel.
Abducted from the Nova music festival, Bohbot said he was confined in a cramped cell with other hostages, given scant food and allowed to wash only once every few weeks.
His captors also compelled him to appear in several propaganda videos, including one in which he pretended to make a phone call to his family.
In the 11 months since his release, Bohbot has undergone physical and emotional rehabilitation, written a book, begun a speaking career, traveled with his family, and celebrated all the holidays and birthdays he missed.
In August, his wife, Rivka, gave birth to a daughter, fulfilling a fierce promise that Bohbot made to himself in the tunnels to give his 5-year-old son, Reem, a sibling.
The newborn Michele is ‘not a symbol for my people, she is more of a symbol for the enemy,’ Bohbot said. ‘So this child is the message for you that we were here, and we will always be here forever.’
RELATED: Ivanka Trump Shares Heartwarming Photos From Grandmother’s 100th Birthday
No events are expected on Wednesday in Gaza, where Israel’s offensive has devastated the narrow strip and displaced around 90 per cent of its population, often multiple times.
Restrictions on the entry of goods and aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis.
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says around half were women and children.
The numbers from the ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
An Israeli soldier crouches to light a candle at the memorial to the victims of the 2023 Hamas attacks
Relatives attend a memorial service marking the third anniversary of October 7, 2023
The family of Lior Tkach cries while visiting his memorial plaque and photo at the Nova festival memorial
An Israeli soldier attends a memorial service marking the third anniversary of October 7, 2023
While a ceasefire that took effect on October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued, targeting what Israel says are Hamas militants.
Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the ministry. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period.
The separate commemorations are indicative of the deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war and his reluctance to launch an official inquiry into failings of the day.
Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister who has denounced Netanyahu for not preventing the attack, joined mourners at Nova to remember the attack by the ‘monsters’ three years ago.
‘This was a colossal failure of the state of Israel, which was established to defend Jews in our land,’ Bennett told reporters.
‘But during those minutes, young men and women from all across Israel came over to fight and protect and save lives of their brothers and sisters and a generation of heroes emerged. And we owe it to this amazing generation to rebuild our country – to be stronger, better,’ he said.
Netanyahu marked October 7 with official ceremonies in Jerusalem on Monday, which was closer to the anniversary on the Jewish calendar.
He vowed there would be ‘no forgiveness for the murderers’ and vowed never to allow rule in Gaza by Hamas, which has faced major losses but remains in control of part of the territory
The attack set in motion a cascade of events that led to wars across the Middle East as Israel confronted Hamas, Hezbollah and their backer Iran.
Israel has seized swaths of territory in Syria and Lebanon, where more than 300,000 Lebanese remain displaced.
The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran’s military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield.
Violence has also risen across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israel’s far-right government has emboldened extremist settlers who have attacked Palestinians and destroyed their property.
Both at Nova and the Kfar Aza kibbutz, another site of mass killings three years earlier, loud bangs were heard from across the border in Gaza during the commemorations as Israel carried out new strikes, despite a ceasefire officially in place for the past year.
Gaza officials said at least two people were killed in overnight strikes in the territory.
On October 27, Israel will hold elections for the first time since the attack with polls showing a tight race for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who in three years has ordered the massive offensive in Gaza as well as in Lebanon and Iran, whose cleric-run government backs Hamas.
