Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip awoke to commemorate one year since they were devastated by surprise attacks by Hamas fighters in the same way they were awoken on Oct. 7, 2023: to the sound of air raid sirens.
Precisely at 6:32 a.m. Monday, militants in Gaza launched four rockets toward those same towns and kibbutzes, sending Israelis into shelters and highlighting how the battle continues to rage 12 months after that fateful morning.
Israeli forces said they intercepted the rockets and immediately struck targets inside Gaza in reprisal. At the same time, Israeli forces were attacking Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. The country also remained on alert for further missile barrages from Iran and Yemen. Israel marked the first anniversary of the deadliest days against Jews since the Holocaust as a country very much still at war.
Despite the fighting, they came together across the country — in groups of less than 2,000 to comply with military orders against larger gatherings — to remember those who were lost, those who are still being held captive and those who remain unable to return to their homes. About 1,200 Israeli citizens, visitors, guest workers and soldiers were killed on Oct. 7; at least 250 were taken hostage; more than 160,000 fled to safety from towns around Gaza and along the border with Lebanon. Few have come home.
A crowd of a few hundred people gathered near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in Jerusalem in a demonstration organized by the families of some of the more than 100 hostages that remain in Gaza. “Stay strong survive,” read one sign. Others held banners showing photos of their loved ones. At 6.29 a.m. the crowd fell silent to mark the moment their loved ones were dragged from their homes and beds on a holiday morning.
“If someone on October 7 or 8 had told me that a year would pass and 101 hostages would still be in Gaza, and the war would still be going on, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Eitan Buchvall, a 53-year-old high school teacher who had joined the demonstration before work. “It’s been a year, and it feels like things are getting worse. Lebanon, Iran. More fronts. People are dying on both sides. People are refugees on both sides.”
He held a banner with the name of one of the hostages: Alon Ohel, who was 22 when he was as kidnapped. His age had been crossed out in black marker to show how old he is now: 23.
Most of this crowd have demanded a cease-fire deal that would end the fighting in Gaza and see the release of the captives. But a banner hanging from nearby building read: “Deal = Surrender,” a reminder of how deeply divided Israelis have become over how to proceed in what has become the country’s longest war since 1948.
By dawn Monday, scores had taken to the fields where at least 364 were shot down or otherwise killed when Hamas fighters stormed the all-night Nova dance festival. Some carried flashlights as they found their way to the dozens of memorials filling the field, each marked with a portrait of the victim and surrounded by small candles and ceramic poppies
Family and friends stroked the images, many in tears. One woman collapsed at the base of her child’s photo. Artillery shells boomed under dark clouds.
Ceremonies — and protests — were planned through the day, including a controversial official government memorial service that many of the attacked communities were planning to boycott. Emotions were raw on the anniversary and so was anger. Many in the public hold Netanyahu’s government responsible for failing to achieve the release of the remaining hostages.
The Nova crowd was largely silent when, shortly before 7 a.m., Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife approached a display of all those killed at the site and lighted candles. Some mourners released white balloons bearing a victim’s name. Men, Jewish tefillin strapped around their arms, chanted morning prayers.
Source: The Washington Post
