By Patrick Kingsley, Isabel Kershner and Aaron Boxerman
Israel on Monday held solemn memorials against the backdrop of continued fighting on the anniversary of the deadliest day in the country’s history, the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 others abducted.
As dawn broke over Re’im forest in southern Israel, the site of a music festival where hundreds were killed last year, a bereaved mother’s cries broke a minute of silence for the victims. Explosions a short distance away were audible as the Israeli military carried out airstrikes across the border in the Gaza Strip.
The anniversary caps 12 months of profound loss and trauma for both Israelis and Palestinians, amid a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that has become the deadliest in a century of conflict between Arabs and Jews — and the longest since the fighting that set the boundaries of the Israeli state in 1949.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s devastating counterattack, roughly 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza — including dozens who are believed to have died — and there is no end to the war in sight. Negotiations for a truce are at an impasse and the war has since expanded into a regional conflict among Israel and Hamas’ allies, leading to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and direct confrontations with Iran.
The Hamas-led attacks, and Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza, have reverberated in New York, home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel, as they are again on the anniversary of the conflict. Vigils, protests and demonstrations, in support of Israel and of the Palestinian people, are scheduled across the country and the city, which has seen rising instances of antisemitic and anti-Muslim violence and harassment.
Around the world, the war has spurred unusually sustained anger at Israel, eroded its allies’ patience and made the country more isolated. Revulsion at Hamas’ atrocities last Oct. 7 gave way to horror at Israel’s military response, leading to accusations of genocide at the world’s top court, unrest on American campuses and growing discomfort over Israeli government policy from some Democratic lawmakers as well as some American Jews.
Among Israelis, the trauma of last October has given fresh momentum to the argument that there is no peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After an initial burst of unity, Israeli society has also become deeply polarized over whether the government should focus on defeating Hamas or agree to a compromise that would free the remaining hostages at the expense of allowing the Iranian-backed militant group to retain control of Gaza.
Those disputes were set to overshadow the anniversary events on Monday, with some relatives and supporters of the hostages expected to hold their own ceremonies, distinct from the government’s commemorations.
Family members of some hostages say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has prioritized his own political survival above the lives of the captives. His far-right coalition partners have threatened to collapse the government if Netanyahu agrees to a deal that would free the abductees in exchange for ending the war. Netanyahu says he is acting with the country’s interests at heart.
Here’s what we are covering:
— Hostages’ families gather: Families and supporters of captives still held in Gaza had their own memorials, some rallying outside Netanyahu’s residence to renew their calls for an urgent deal to free their loved ones. On Sunday night, Israeli authorities informed the family of Idan Shtivi, who was abducted at the music festival, that he was presumed dead, his father said in a television interview. Shtivi, 28, was a university student and amateur photographer, according to a group that represents the families of hostages in Gaza.
— Gaza residents reflect: Palestinians in Gaza are looking back on a year of unparalleled loss: homes destroyed, livelihoods upended, relationships interrupted, loved ones killed. None of the more than 2 million people in the territory has been unaffected. “We were so happy before this war,” said Maisaa al-Naffar, 20, recalling her first few weeks as a newlywed last year. She added: “I am not the person I used to be.”
— Biden’s and Harris’ statements: In separate statements, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris offered strong defenses of Israel, condemning what Biden called the “unspeakable brutality” of the Hamas attack and reaffirming support for Israel’s right to self-defense. Neither statement explicitly criticized Israeli forces’ actions in Gaza, and each said Palestinian people had suffered because of the conflict that Hamas initiated.
— Fighting grinds on: Israeli soldiers are still battling inside Gaza with no end in sight. Though Hamas’ forces have been greatly eroded, Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks have yet to destroy the armed group or bring home the remaining hostages, two of Israel’s war aims. Over the weekend, the Israeli military appeared to declare most of northern Gaza an evacuation zone, suggesting it could further intensify its attacks there.
Comments