Israel-Hamas war: Israel marks a year since 7 October attacks – but memorials disrupted by rocket fire

Barrages of rockets have been fired into Israel throughout the day as Israelis mark the anniversary of the 7 October attack. 

Hundreds of relatives of hostages and people killed in the attack gathered for a memorial service in a central Tel Aviv park, although the event had to be scaled back because of threats of missile fire.

Shortly before it began, sirens warned of an incoming missile from Yemen and those gathered were forced to lie face down on the ground until it was intercepted.

A second major memorial was held by the government in Israel today, although the ceremony was pre-recorded without an audience – apparently out of concern it could be disrupted.

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Ceremonies and protests were also held elsewhere in Israel, one year on from when Hamas militants crossed the Gaza border and rampaged through Israeli towns and kibbutz villages.

Some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others were taken into Gaza as hostages, making it the single deadliest day for Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.

Israel has responded by unleashing a large-scale offensive on Gaza that has killed almost 42,000 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run territory.

It is now fighting on several fronts against Hamas’s allies in the Middle East, including the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthis.

One of the barrages of rockets into Israel on Monday came from Hamas, which targeted Tel Aviv and set off sirens in central areas of the country.

The five rockets lightly wounded two women and caused minor damage.

Israel’s military said the rockets came from the area of Khan Younis in Gaza.

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Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel’s third largest city Haifa. The group said it had targeted a military base south of the city with “Fadi 1” missiles and launched another strike on Tiberias, 40 miles away.

Ten people were reported injured in the Haifa area and two others further south in central Israel.

The rocket fire came as Israeli forces appear poised to expand ground raids into south Lebanon, following three weeks of intense Israeli strikes and attacks in the country.

Israel’s military said the air force was carrying out extensive bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon, and that two Israeli soldiers were killed in border-area combat, taking the military death toll inside Lebanon so far to 11.

It has also warned people not to sail along an area up to 22 miles north of the Israeli border as it plans operations on Lebanon’s southern coast.

The military said people should not be on the beaches along the Mediterranean coast from the Israeli border all the way north of the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon.

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In an Israeli cabinet meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was fighting a “war of resurrection” and would continue until achieving its goals and returning the hostages “living and dead”.

“This is the war of our existence – the ‘war of resurrection’. This is what I would like to officially call the war,” he said.

A sombre memorial ceremony was also hosted at the White House by US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.

The Bidens watched as Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation recited the Jewish remembrance prayer for those killed on 7 October, before Mr Biden lit a lone memorial candle and a moment of silence was observed.

In a statement, the US president said: “On this solemn anniversary, let us bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of the October 7 attacks but also to the beauty of the lives that were stolen that day.”

He said he thinks every day of the more than 100 hostages still in captivity and their families, vowing his administration will “never give up” until they are returned.

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Elsewhere, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the anniversary of the Hamas attack – but used it to condemn Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

“Today, I remember with sorrow the tens of thousands of people that the murderous Israeli government has massacred since Oct 7,” Mr Erdogan said in a message posted on X.

“I convey my most heartfelt condolences to my brothers from Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon.”

The Turkish president is an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza and more recently the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and has previously praised Hamas as a “liberation group”.