Third anniversary of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack marked by wave of memorials and protests across Israel

[Financial News] On the 7th, three years after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, the country was swept by a wave of grief and remembrance. (Local time)
According to CNN and The Jerusalem Post, the October Council, a group representing victims of the Oct. 7 attack and their families, held a nationwide memorial with a minute of silence at 6:29 a.m., the time Hamas's attack began.
A nationwide minute of remembrance was also observed at noon that day. A memorial was held at 6:29 p.m. at the site of the Nova music festival in Re'im Forest, where at least 370 people were killed and 44 were abducted.
A nationwide memorial organized by the Kumu movement, which represents survivors of the Oct. 7 attack and bereaved families (Kumu means “rise up” in Hebrew), will be held at 9:15 p.m. that day at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv. Tens of thousands are expected to attend.
Protest convoys and various protest and exhibition events will also continue throughout the day in locations across the country.
The Israeli government's official state memorial was held on the 5th. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Three years have passed, and even now, as Israel is stronger than ever, the horrific hours of the Simchat Torah attack—one of the Jewish holidays—remain deeply etched in us.”
At a cabinet meeting the following day, Netanyahu warned that 4,000 of the 6,000 armed militants who infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7 attack had been killed so far, saying, “We will find them all.”
About 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage during Hamas's surprise attack. It was the event with the highest loss of life in a single day in Israel's history.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip over three years in Israeli retaliatory attacks.
Survivors' and victims' groups are urging the government to establish a “State Commission of Inquiry,” the most powerful investigative body under Israeli law, to determine the government's responsibility.
CNN reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu is rejecting the demand and has not established any other special investigative body either.
 


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs correspondent Reporter