War rages on multiple fronts as Israel marks a year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack
Israelis marked the anniversary of the most deadly attack in their history on Monday with a somber ceremony. The raid was led by Hamas and shattered the sense of security in Israel, sparking wars on both fronts without an end in sight.
Hamas fired a barrage rockets into Tel Aviv to mark the anniversary of their Oct. 7, 2023 attack, demonstrating its resilience following a year-long war in Gaza and destruction. Hezbollah in Lebanon, which started firing rockets into Israel on October 8 to support Hamas’s allies, has vowed not to stop despite recent losses.
Aftershocks from the surprise attack on Israelis a year ago, which occurred during a major Jewish festival and caught them unprepared, are still felt across the entire region. Around 100 hostages taken that day are still unaccounted for, with a third believed to have died. Cease-fire efforts also have ceased.
Israel continues to fight a war against Hezbollah while the war in Gaza continues. The conflict between Iran and Hamas, which both support Hezbollah and Hamas, is also escalating. This could lead to a regional conflagration that’s even more dangerous.
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Gaza is not planning any formal commemorative events. The fighting continues, large areas are destroyed, and the majority of residents have fled their homes.
According to the Lebanon’s Health Ministry, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have resulted in at least 10 deaths of firefighters. This is just the latest of a number of attacks that has killed dozens. The Health Ministry said that the firefighters were in an area of a municipal building in Baraachit, a southern town. They were preparing for a mission when they were hit.
The Israeli military has not yet commented.
Israelis commemorate hostages and demand their return
Israelis visited cemeteries, memorials and ceremonies all over the country to remember the hundreds of victims and the hostages who are still being held captive, as well as the soldiers killed in combat. Commemorations are also being planned in Europe and other places.
In the Oct. 7, attack, Hamas-led terrorists killed about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapped another 250.
Isaac Herzog and hundreds of the families of the victims of the Nova music festival gathered before dawn at the scene where 364 revelers died, while many more were held hostage. The organizers played a trance song that abruptly stopped when rockets started.
The crowd observed a minute of silence at 6:29 am, the exact time Hamas began its attack. The silence was broken by a woman’s piercing cry and the booms of the Gaza fighting, which is only a few miles away.
“When we’re here, we’re near our loved ones,” Sigal Baron said, whose niece Yuval Baron, 25, and Moshe Shuva 34, her fiance, were both killed in the attack, two months before their wedding.
Shimon Busika’s 25-year old son Yarden, who was killed in the festival, said: “We don’t know how time has passed.”
Four projectiles, launched at 6:31 am from Gaza, were fired toward the same communities which were attacked last year. The ceremony was not disrupted.
According to the military, five more rockets were fired from Khan Younis in southern Gaza toward central Israel. This triggered air raid sirens at Tel Aviv. First responders reported that two women suffered minor injuries. The military claimed that it hit the launch sites.
Families of hostages who are still being held in Gaza have gathered at the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and remained standing during a siren lasting two minutes.
Shiri Albag, whose daughter Liri was taken hostage, said: “We’re here to remind them that we haven’t forgotten them.” She said in a speech to Netanyahu: “We will not let you rest, until they are all back, every single one of them.”
Netanyahu, who is under fire for security lapses that occurred on Oct. 7, and for still not returning all hostages, said at a small Jerusalem ceremony: “We experienced a terrible mass murder a year before and we rose as a nation like lions.”
A state ceremony will air Monday. The ceremony was recorded without an audience, presumably to avoid disruptions. It took place in the southern city Ofakim.
Families of those who were killed or taken hostage by Netanyahu’s government held a separate event at Tel Aviv out of anger. The event was originally expected to attract tens or thousands of people, but it has been scaled down due to the threat from Iran and Hezbollah of missile attacks.
Hamas and Hezbollah pledge to continue fighting
Israel launched one of its most deadly and destructive military campaigns ever in response to the attack on Oct. 7. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza war. Most of Gaza’s 2.3million residents were displaced, and there is widespread hunger.
Liyala al-Shanar fled her Gaza City home and said, “We lost all we had.” “We live in tents that don’t protect us against the winter cold and the summer heat.”
Hamas still controls the territory, and its forces have frequently regrouped where Israel has conducted major operations. Israeli forces launched a major operation in Jabaliya, a northern town. The military claims that it is meant to root out militants.
Hezbollah in Lebanon has continued to launch rockets, drones and missiles at Israel, even after Israeli airstrikes killed the majority of its top leadership, including Hassan Nasrallah, and devastated large areas of Lebanon. Israel has launched a ground operation that is so far limited across the border.
At least 1,400 Lebanese have been killed, including civilians and Hezbollah militants. 1.2 million people have fled their homes. Israel claims it wants to drive militants from its borders so that tens and thousands of Israelis can return home.
Israel has also promised to respond to an Iranian ballistic missile strike last week, which it said was in response for the death of Nasrallah and top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as well as one of their own Revolutionary Guard Generals.
Hezbollah said in a statement released on Monday that it would continue to attack Israel until there was a ceasefire, calling Israel “a cancerous, deadly gland” which must be eradicated, no matter the length of time.
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