Israel marks the first anniversary on Monday of the devastating Hamas attack on October 7, which ignited the Gaza war and has since spread to neighboring Lebanon, creating a dangerous regional crisis.
President Isaac Herzog will lead a memorial service in Sderot, one of the cities most affected during the assault by Palestinian militants. A rally advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza is set to take place in Beeri, a kibbutz community where over 100 individuals were killed on October 7. Additionally, a memorial will be held at kibbutz Reim, the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds lost their lives.
In Tel Aviv, events are underway beginning Sunday, with families of hostages still held in Gaza planning a demonstration to demand their release. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to deliver a televised address on Monday, although specific details of the official commemoration remain unclear.
“Our wounds still cannot fully heal because they are ongoing. Because hostages are still being tortured, executed, and dying in captivity,” Herzog stated in a message marking the anniversary. “Because they and their families are still living in the loss and the terror of October 7 right at these very moments… In many senses, we are all still living the aftermath of October 7.”
On that day, Hamas militants launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, storming across the border from Gaza at the end of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. As of now, the confirmed death toll from the attack, including hostages killed while in captivity, stands at 1,205 on the Israeli side, most of whom were civilians, according to tally based on official Israeli figures. A total of 251 hostages were abducted on October 7, with 97 still held in Gaza, including 33 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
Following the attack, Netanyahu declared that Israel was “at war” and initiated a military campaign to dismantle Hamas. Since then, significant portions of Gaza have been devastated, displacing nearly all of the territory’s 2.4 million residents amid a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel’s offensive has resulted in at least 41,825 deaths, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, with the United Nations validating these figures.
The conflict escalated further with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group and key ally of Hamas, firing rockets into Israel, prompting cross-border attacks that displaced more than 60,000 people within Israel. Fighting has intensified recently, with Israel conducting airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon, resulting in numerous Lebanese casualties and targeted assassinations of prominent Hezbollah commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The situation in Lebanon and Gaza now poses a risk of broader conflict, particularly following Iran’s launch of approximately 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 — its second such direct attack in less than six months. Iran stated the missile barrage was in retaliation for the killings of Nasrallah and Ismail Haniyeh, the former Hamas political leader killed in Tehran in July.
In a rare sermon on Friday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that “the resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms, and will win.” Both Iran and the international community are now preparing for potential Israeli retaliation following the missile attack.