Israelis marked on Oct. 7 the first anniversary of the deadly attack by the Hamas terrorist group that plunged their nation into war.
Ceremonies across the country began with a moment of silence at 6:29 a.m.—the exact moment a year earlier when Hamas launched a rocket barrage from Gaza providing cover for 3,000 terrorists who stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting more than 200.
At the order of Israel’s Home Front Command, the moment was not marked by sirens. Air-raid sirens are still heard daily in Israel. National memorial sirens are traditionally reserved in Israel for Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day.
Israel’s enemies also marked the day with rocket attacks on Israel.
In one of its heaviest attacks in months, Hamas fired four missiles at border communities at 6:30 a.m. and five more later in the morning. The first wave were all shot down or fell into open areas.
The second wave was aimed at Tel Aviv and its suburbs in central Israel. Two rockets got through, one hitting Holon and the other Kibbutz Kfar Chabad, next to Ben Gurion Airport, where two people were wounded.
In the north, Hezbollah had launched 135 rockets at Israel by 5 p.m., targeting the Haifa area, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported. Israel retaliated, striking 120 Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, the IDF said.
Hezbollah said its first salvo of missiles was aimed at a military base south of Haifa and at Tiberias. The second wave targeted areas north of Haifa. Ten people were reportedly injured around Haifa.
Communities that were among the hardest hit in the attack one year ago, such as Kibbutz Be'eri, Kibbutz Nir Oz, and the small city of Ofakim, held ceremonies across the country.
A ceremony was also held by Kibbutz Reim, the site of the Nova music festival. The gathering—some called it a rave—had gone all night before becoming the site of some of the worst atrocities by Hamas and its largest killing field.
Of the 1,200 lives lost that day, 364 were murdered by terrorists at the festival site, more than the 274 IDF soldiers who fell on Oct. 7 while defending their bases or fighting to retake overrun communities.
The festival site has become a memorial park featuring photos of the victims. Friends and family have turned individual posters and the ground around them into personalized tributes.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog joined in commemorating the Nova attack.
“Oct. 7, 2023, is a day that should be remembered in infamy, when thousands of cruel terrorists broke into our homes, violated our families, burned, chopped, raped, and hijacked and abducted our citizens, our brothers and sisters, and with them people from 36 different nationalities,” Herzog said in remarks released by the Government Press Office.
“This is a scar on humanity. This is a scar on the face of the Earth.”
Herzog called for the return of the 100 or so remaining hostages, about 60 of whom are thought to be still living, with 35 believed dead but whose bodies have not been returned.
“The world has to realize and understand that in order to change the course of history and bring peace, a better future to the region, it must support Israel in its battle against its enemies,” Herzog said.
“We are fighting the battle of the free world. We are fighting for a better future for the region. We are fighting for a future of peace.
“This cannot be done without enabling us to defeat our enemies and bring peace and a better direction to the entire region.”
The Government Press Office said Herzog received a call from President Joe Biden on Oct. 7 expressing solidarity and condolences.
Those at the ceremony listened to a recording of the last song played at the festival, a thumping drum-and-bass track that has since been released as a tribute to festival victims.
Flags flew at half-staff at Israel’s Knesset building.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a small ceremony in Jerusalem.
“We went through a terrible massacre a year ago, and we arose as a nation of lions,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu has drawn heavy criticism, both for the nation’s security failures leading to Oct. 7 and for not yet getting all of the hostages released.
A small group of protesters, including families of hostages still being held, staged a ceremony near his Jerusalem home. A larger protest had been planned in Tel Aviv, one that had been set to draw tens of thousands of participants, but was scaled back due to the threat of missile attacks from Iran and Hezbollah.
“It’s been a nightmare of a year,” said Eli Albag, whose daughter, Liri, is one of five surveillance soldiers who were kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base.
“We won’t remember the military operations. What we'll remember forever are the captives.”
Netanyahu also met on Oct. 7 with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators led by Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
“We’re here to say we have Israel’s back, and Israel has the right to defend itself,” Blumenthal said.
Graham said: “The reason people were killed on Oct. 7 was they were Jewish. We’ve seen this movie before. We don’t want to see any more of these movies.”
