It was a year ago today that Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel. Israel observed a moment of silence at 6:29 Am — the exact minute Hamas launched its attack.
Over 1,200 Israeli citizens, visitors, guest workers and soldiers were killed on Oct. 7; at least 250 were taken hostage.
In the wake of the surprise attack, Israel launched one of the deadliest military campaigns in history.
“If someone on October 7 or 8 had told me that a year would pass and 101 hostages would still be in Gaza, and the war would still be going on, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Eitan Buchvall, a 53-year-old high school teacher who had joined the demonstration before work. “It’s been a year, and it feels like things are getting worse. Lebanon, Iran. More fronts. People are dying on both sides. People are refugees on both sides.”
Netanyahu, who has ben critized for the security lapses on Oct. 7 and for not yet returning all the hostages, spoke at a small ceremony in Jerusalem, saying: “We went through a terrible massacre a year ago and we arose as a nation as lions.”