Israel marks October 7 with another war still unresolved
JERUSALEM — Israelis marked three years since the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Wednesday with memorials at communities where hundreds were killed, while Israeli strikes continued in Gaza and the country prepared for its first general election since the attack that transformed both Israel and the Palestinian territory.
At 6:29am, the time the assault began on 7 October 2023, mourners gathered at Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border. Families also returned to the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of people were killed, to remember those who died and were abducted.
The anniversary is different from the previous two in one significant respect. No living Israeli hostages are now being held in Gaza following releases under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached last year. Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people during the original attack, while about 1,200 people were killed in Israel.
But the ceasefire has not brought an end to violence.
AFP reporters attending memorials in southern Israel heard explosions from Gaza, where Israeli forces carried out fresh strikes. Gaza officials said at least two people were killed overnight. Israel’s defence minister had placed the military on heightened alert ahead of the anniversary, citing intelligence about possible Hamas attacks against Israeli troops.
Three years of Israeli military operations have left much of Gaza destroyed and displaced most of its population. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 74,200 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. The United Nations has previously treated the ministry’s casualty reporting as broadly reliable, although the figures do not distinguish in every instance between civilians and combatants.
A ceasefire brokered by the United States came into effect in October 2025, but major elements of the agreement remain unresolved. Hamas has not fully disarmed, Israel continues to control nearly two-thirds of Gaza, reconstruction has barely begun and Israeli strikes have continued. More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza health authorities.
The anniversary also falls just 20 days before Israel’s 27 October general election, the first national vote since the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of October 7, the war and its aftermath has become central to the campaign. Critics accuse his government of failing to prevent the attack and have demanded an independent investigation into the security failures surrounding it. Netanyahu has defended his government’s conduct and has vowed that Hamas will not be allowed to govern Gaza.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who joined mourners at the Nova festival site on Wednesday, described October 7 as a major failure of the Israeli state while paying tribute to civilians and security personnel who responded to the attack.
The consequences are also entering the election directly. At least nine Israelis personally affected by October 7, including relatives of people killed or abducted, are running for office across different parts of the political spectrum.
For Palestinians in Gaza, the third anniversary arrives under very different circumstances. About two million people remain in a territory devastated by three years of war, with large numbers living in tents and temporary accommodation and reconstruction stalled.
The events of October 7 therefore remain simultaneously a day of national mourning in Israel, the starting point of Gaza’s devastation and an unresolved political issue that Israeli voters will carry into the ballot box later this month.
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