Israel Marks Three Years Since October 7 Attack as Hostage Families Demand Accountability

Israel on Wednesday commemorated the third anniversary of the Hamas-led assault that ignited the ongoing war in Gaza, with memorial ceremonies held at the sites of the deadliest attack in the country's history. Approximately 1,200 people were killed during the October 7, 2023 raid, and 251 others were taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

The somber anniversary unfolded against a backdrop of continuing violence in Gaza, where a ceasefire agreement reached nearly a year ago has failed to fully halt hostilities. Living conditions for the territory's 2.1 million residents remain dire, even as Israeli leaders vowed to pursue those responsible for the attack.

At the Nova music festival site in southern Israel, near Kibbutz Re'im, bereaved families and survivors gathered Wednesday morning to honor the 378 people killed there. The festival grounds sit just a short distance from the Gaza border, where Hamas-led gunmen launched their assault at dawn, catching thousands of young Israelis attending the overnight electronic music event completely off guard.

Witness accounts from the Nova site describe scenes of extreme brutality, with festival-goers shot, sexually abused and tortured by the attackers. Forty-four attendees were kidnapped, and only 25 of them were eventually returned alive from Gaza. Ahuva Yavin Mayze, whose 21-year-old daughter Adi was fatally shot at the festival, told the BBC that what occurred there was "dystopic, unimaginable."

Shlomo Sharf, a former Israeli footballer, spoke of the personal toll the anniversary carries for him and the wider nation. His 24-year-old granddaughter, May Naim, was among those killed at Nova. "Today is a difficult day, not only for me but for a large part of the nation," he said in remarks reported by Channel 12.

The commemoration extended far beyond the festival grounds. At Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 residents were killed and 19 taken hostage on October 7, crowds filled the community's small cemetery to pay respects beside the graves of victims. Community leader Zion Regev told Reuters that most surviving residents have still not returned to their homes, citing the lingering trauma of the attack.

"This is the first time we are doing all the things here in the kibbutz," Regev said. "It's a very emotional day, it's a very difficult day for our community, three years after 7 October."

Former hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife Shiri and two young sons Ariel and Kfir were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and later killed in captivity in Gaza, offered a wrenching tribute quoted by the Times of Israel: "Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. Sorry. Sorry that you are up there and I am here."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation's grief in a statement released Wednesday, saying he had lit a memorial candle for every victim of the attack. "The nation unites on this day in the longing for our dear ones," he said, adding that Israel "will complete the mission" and "will continue settling the score with all the murderers." At a ceremony on Monday marking the Jewish calendar's anniversary of the attack, Netanyahu claimed Israeli forces had killed 4,000 of the roughly 6,000 Palestinians who infiltrated Israel that day.

The prime minister's remarks came as anti-government protesters renewed calls for an independent state inquiry into the security failures that allowed the attack to occur. Many senior Israeli defense and security officials have resigned or been dismissed since October 7, yet no independent commission of inquiry has been established into what remains the country's worst security breach.

In Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square, protesters dyed the fountain red to symbolize blood, transforming a site already used as a memorial—adorned with photographs, flowers and messages along its basin wall—into a stark political statement. Demonstrators also briefly blocked a major city highway Wednesday morning to observe a moment of silence. Banners carried messages including "the people will remember their sons and daughters," alongside others reading "a complete failure" and "guilty" next to an image of Netanyahu.

Later Wednesday evening, a national memorial event at Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park drew large crowds. Ido Yakir, who reportedly helped fend off attackers at Kibbutz Magen, praised IDF troops who "fought so bravely" during the raid and said Israel would remember all those "who knew that they had to give their lives in order to save others."

Israel's military response to the October 7 attack has devastated Gaza. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 74,200 people have been killed in the territory since the war began—figures the United Nations regards as reliable. The scale of destruction has drawn international criticism and fueled debate within Israel over the conduct of the campaign and the failure to secure the release of all remaining hostages.

Three years on, the anniversary has laid bare the unresolved questions that continue to divide Israeli society: how the attack was allowed to happen, whether those in power will be held accountable, and what the path forward holds for a nation still grieving. For families of the victims, the ceremonies offered a measure of collective remembrance, even as the political reckoning they demand remains unrealized.