Israel holds vigils to mark 7 October attacks

One year on from the brutal attacks that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israelis across the country commemorated the event with vigils held for those killed.

In Reʿim, a kibbutz in southern Israel, the last track from the Nova music festival played one year on from the surprise Hamas October 7 attack.

At 6:30 am — the exact hour Hamas launched its attack 12 months ago — the families of those killed at the Nova music festival gathered at the site where almost 400 revellers were gunned down by the terrorist-designated group, with many others taken hostage.

They were joined and embraced by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, with whom they stood for a moment of silence.

One woman’s piercing wail broke the silence as explosions from Gaza, just a few kilometres southwest, echoed from the fighting.

Hamas killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, one year ago, with 250 dragged into Gaza as hostages. The deadly event continues to cast a shadow over daily life in Israel, with dozens of hostages remaining in captivity.

Roughly 100 families of hostages still held in Gaza met outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence to stand during a two-minute siren, replicating a custom from the most solemn dates on the Israeli calendar, Holocaust Remembrance and Memorial Day.

Netanyahu and his government have come under increasing pressure domestically and abroad to broker a ceasefire deal with Hamas to end fighting in the Gaza Strip and return hostages.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the territory’s 2.3 million population and sparked a humanitarian crisis that has led to widespread hunger.

Numerous protests have been held around Europe to commemorate the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed as a result of the fighting.

Israel faces ongoing international criticism over its wartime conduct, with two world courts examining its actions.