Monday marked the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country’s history, leaving more than 1,200 dead and over 200 taken hostage. Hundreds of people gathered at the Nova festival to honor those killed and a memorial was held in Tel Aviv where one in four residents were killed or abducted by Hamas. At 6:29 a.m. – the minute Hamas launched its attack, there was a moment of silence as explosions could be heard from the fighting in Gaza just a few miles away.
The war has killed more than 41,000, displaced 90% of Gaza’s population and created an increasing global conflict. The Israeli military continues to attack in northern Gaza this weekend and multiple locations including a hospital compound.
The response from Israel has been very strong with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the conflict “The war for our existence,” and the state of Israel officially declaring the war, the Swords of Iron War.
“You can change as many names as you want, you will not change the fact that on your watch the most terrible disaster happened to the people of Israel since the establishment of the state,” One of Israel’s opposition leaders Yair Lapid said.
Netanyahu also said his country experiences war from several militant powers including Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel is now fighting their first three-front war in half a century with Lebanon to the north, along Gaza in the South and the West Bank in the East, and recent conflicts pointed to a potential war with Iran which could escalate potentially involving the US and many others.
Abu Yousef, a Palestinian from Kafr Manda, a Palestinian village in northern Israel, emphasized the divide between the two parties after the Oct. 7 attack.
“We used to have Jewish friends, we would ask about each other’s families,” Yousef said. “But one who was your friend before, is no longer your friend.”
A recent survey taken in Gaza by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) found that 72% of all respondents believe Hamas’s decision to launch its attack on Israel on October 7 was “correct”.
“No one should see this as support for any atrocities that might have been committed by Hamas on that day,” director of the PCPSR Khalil Shikaki said.
