|
Protesters
march
towards
Israeli
Prime
Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu's
private
residence,
to mark
one year
since
the
deadly
October
7 attack
by
Hamas,
in
Jerusalem,
October
7, 2024.
REUTERS/Ronen
Zvulun |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
A
woman
reacts
at a
gathering
to mark
one year
since
partygoers
were
killed
and
kidnapped
during
the
deadly
October
7 attack
by
Hamas,
at the
site of
the Nova
festival
in Reim,
southern
Israel,
October
7, 2024.
Reuters/Amir
Cohen |
| |
Israel
marks
Oct. 7
anniversary
under
shadow
of
escalating
war
By
Manuel
Ausloos
6–7
minutes
REIM,
Israel,
Oct 7
(Reuters)
-
Israelis
on
Monday
marked
the
first
anniversary
of the
devastating
Hamas
attack
that
triggered
a war
which
has
sparked
protest
worldwide
and
risks
igniting
a far
wider
conflict
in the
Middle
East.
Ceremonies
and
protests
in
Jerusalem
and
Israel's
south
began
around
06:29
a.m.
(0329
GMT),
the hour
when
Hamas-led
militants
launched
rockets
into
Israel
at the
start of
the Oct.
7 attack
last
year.
They
killed
some
1,200
people
and took
about
250
hostages
to Gaza,
according
to
Israeli
figures.
Outside
Prime
Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu's
home in
Jerusalem,
around
300
people
led by
families
of
hostages
holding
up
photos
of their
loved
ones,
observed
a minute
of
silence
for the
dead as
a siren
sounded.
"We're
still
stuck in
October
7th,
2023, in
one
unending
day of
terror,
of fear,
of
anger,
of
despair,"
said
Yuval
Baron,
whose
father-in-law
Keith
Siegel
is
hostage
in Gaza.
"We
wanted
to start
this day
together
to
remind
ourselves,
our
prime
minister,
the
public
of
Israel
that
even
though
it is a
day of
grief
there is
still a
holy
mission
to bring
back the
hostages,"
said
Baron.
In Reim,
the site
of the
music
festival
where
more
than 360
people
were
killed
and
dozens
taken
hostage,
President
Isaac
Herzog
presided
over the
memorial
ceremony
which
began
with the
last
track
that was
played
at the
party a
year
ago.
"We will
remember
always
who
kidnapped,
who
murdered,
who
raped,
who
slaughtered.
At the
same
time, we
have
also
seen
extraordinary
fortitude.
We have
a
wonderful
people
and on
this day
we
strengthen
it and
call for
unity,"
said
Herzog.
Ceremonies
were to
take
place at
kibbutz
villages
and
towns
near the
border
throughout
the day.
HIGH
ALERT
Security
forces
were on
high
alert
across
the
country
on
Monday,
the
military
and
police
said,
anticipating
possible
Palestinian
attacks
planned
for the
anniversary
of Oct.
7, 2023,
when the
worst
bloodletting
in the
decades-old
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict
began.
Movement
in the
Israeli-occupied
West
Bank was
further
hampered
as many
checkpoints
shut
down,
residents
said,
and some
Palestinians
with
entry
permits
received
notices
on their
mobile
phones
saying
they
will not
be
allowed
into
Israel
on
Monday.
In Gaza,
the
Israeli
military
said its
aircraft
foiled a
rocket
attack
planned
by
Hamas.
The
Hamas
attack
on
Israeli
communities
around
Gaza and
Israel's
relentless
campaign
in
response
have
destabilised
the
Middle
East
while
the
scale of
the
killing
and
destruction
have
horrified
people
worldwide.
Vigils
were
also
held
outside
Israel
and
demonstrations
were
expected
against
its
offensive
in the
Gaza
Strip
which
has laid
wasteto
the
densely
populated
coastal
enclave,
killed
almost
42,000
people,
according
to
Palestinian
health
authorities,
and
displaced
most of
the 2.3
million
population.
For
Israel,
the
surprise
assault
by the
Palestinian
Islamist
group
was one
of the
worst
security
failures
for a
country
that
prides
itself
on a
strong,
sophisticated
military.
The
attack
led to
Israel's
single
deadliest
day,
shattered
many
citizens'
sense of
security
and sent
their
faith in
its
leaders
to new
lows.
FOCUS
SHIFTS
TO NORTH
Most of
the dead
were
civilians,
including
women,
children
and
elderly
people,
killed
in their
homes,
on the
roads
and at
the site
of the
open air
Nova
music
festival
- as
well as
soldiers
on army
bases
near the
Gaza
border.
In Gaza,
101
hostages
remain
as
Israeli
forces
press on
with
their
mission
to end
Hamas'
rule of
the
enclave
and
demolish
its
military
capabilities.
But the
focus of
the war
has
increasingly
shifted
north to
Lebanon
where
Israeli
forces
have
been
exchanging
fire
with
Hezbollah
since
the
Iranian-backed
group
launched
a
barrage
of
missiles
in
support
of Hamas
on Oct.
8.
What
began as
limited
daily
exchanges
has
escalated
into
bombardments
of
Hezbollah's
stronghold
in
Beirut
and a
ground
offensive
into
border
villages
meant to
stamp
out its
fighters
there
and
allow
tens of
thousands
of
Israelis
evacuated
from
their
homes in
the
country's
north to
return.
Israel's
assault,
which
has
killed
over
1,000
people
in the
past two
weeks,
has
triggered
a mass
flight
from
southern
Lebanon
where
more
than 1
million
people
have
been
displaced.
A series
of
Israeli
assassinations
over the
past few
months
which
killed
Hezbollah
and
Hamas
chiefs
and a
sophisticated
attack
on
Hezbollah
via
pagers
and
radios
have
restored
some
sense of
security
for
Israelis.
But they
also
prompted
unprecedented
missile
attacks
from
Iran,
raising
fears of
a
regional
war with
a
powerful
enemy.
Israel
has yet
to
respond
to the
second
Iranian
barrage
on Oct
1, but
has
vowed a
harsh
response.
The
Reuters
Daily
Briefing
newsletter
provides
all the
news you
need to
start
your
day.
Sign up
here.
Additional
reporting
by
Maayan
Lubell
and Ilan
Rozenberg
in
Jerusalem
and Ali
Swafta
in
Ramallah;
Writing
by
Maayan
Lubell
and
James
Mackenzie;
Editing
by
Cynthia
Osterman
and
Sharon
Singleton
Our
Standards:
The
Thomson
Reuters
Trust
Principles.,
opens
new tab
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
