RE’IM: Israelis gathered at the Nova music festival site on Wednesday for the third October 7 anniversary, while bereaved families demanded an independent inquiry into the Hamas-led attacks.
Militants killed 378 people and took 44 others hostage at the festival near the Gaza border in southern Israel. Families returned to remember relatives killed on October 7, 2023.
President Isaac Herzog of Israel urged unity, recalling accounts of loss and survival from bereaved families, former hostages and displaced communities. Earlier, he and his wife, Michal, lit a memorial candle at the president’s residence in Jerusalem.
For Katia Zohar, whose daughter Bar Zohar died aged 23, the attack’s opening moments remain unforgettable. She described them to Agence France-Presse (AFP) as “the minute that changed our lives forever”.
Elsewhere, protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway and gathered at junctions across Israel. Families of victims and hostages observed a minute’s silence outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, while demanding accountability.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted an independent public inquiry. Demonstrators also filled Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff fountain with red dye to protest the government’s handling of the attacks.
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Across southern Israel, the Hamas-led assault killed about 1,200 people and took 251 captives to Gaza. Internationally, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany pledged to combat antisemitism and support a two-state solution.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with bereaved families and reaffirmed his commitment to peace. Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry put the death toll from Israel’s subsequent war at at least 74,243 people.
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Although a ceasefire began in October 2025, Israeli strikes have continued. Latest strikes in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and Khan Younis in the south killed at least two Palestinians and wounded others, the ministry said.
However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) described its Beit Lahia target as militant, without giving details. It did not immediately comment on the Khan Younis strike.
