Tel Aviv — Israelis on Monday celebrated one full year since Hamas’s atrocities October 7 terrorist attacksgather at the sites of some atrocities to honor the dead and demand the release of those still held captive in Gaza. For many, it is hard to believe that 365 days have passed.
“We have not closed the story. We are still there on that Shabat – on that Saturday,” Batsheva Yahalomi told CBS News several days ago, as she revisited her former home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Her husband is believed to be among the 101 hostages still held in Gaza. Her son was held hostage for 52 days before being released in November 2023 in a prisoner swap with Hamas — one of 105 Israelis released in exchange for about 180 Palestinians in the only such exchange negotiated during the war year.
On the grounds of the Nova Music Festival in Israel’s southern desert, the last song played before the rockets began raining down a year ago was played again Monday as mourners clung to each other. Hamas terrorists killed more than 360 people during the festival, with the toll rising again on Monday, a year after the massacre.
The forum for families of the October 7 hostages announced Monday morning that Idan Shtivi, one of dozens of people kidnapped from the festival, was reportedly killed by Hamas in the attack. His body was taken to Gaza that day and is still held there by the group.
The commemorative events took place as tensions continued to rise in the volatile Middle East. Israel carried out even more air strikes in Lebanon at night, where the fight against the Hamas-affiliated group takes place Hezbollah has increased rapidly since mid-September.
The Israeli military said it had also responded to an “imminent threat” of a new Hamas attack in Gaza, the group’s longtime stronghold, by hitting a hospital there when it intercepted three projectiles fired from Palestinian territory.
Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza a year ago, within hours of the group’s terrorist attack on October 7.
Weeks of blistering air raids followed before ground troops swept into the tightly packed enclave. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says nearly 42,000 people have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza over the past year – by far the deadliest war ever fought between the two sides.
Some Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon, meanwhile, reached Israeli air defense systems overnight, landing in the northern city of Haifa and causing several injuries.
In a statement marking 12 months of what he called “the most just war in all our years,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pledged to “continue to do whatever is necessary to defend the homeland, and the legacy of to be worthy of our beloved countries. those, our fallen comrades – civilians and soldiers.”
In a lengthy statement from the White House on Monday morning, President Biden urged the world to “witness the unspeakable brutality of the October 7 attacks, but also the beauty of the lives stolen that day.”
The president, pointing to his visit to Israel not long after the attacks, said he “then made it clear to the Israeli people: you are not alone. One year later, Vice President Harris and I remain fully committed to the security of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist.”
Mr. Biden said the attacks “brought back painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people,” and reiterated his support for “Israel’s right to defend itself from attacks by Hezbollah, Hamas , the Houthis and Iran.”
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