Israel on Wednesday marks the third anniversary of Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, with the deadliest day in the country’s history set to loom large over an election just weeks away.
Commemorative events will also be the first to be held since a ceasefire officially began in war-torn Gaza last year.
Memorial events are planned throughout the day to pay tribute to the scores of people killed by militants led by the Islamist movement during their assault from Gaza.
Palestinian fighters breached the border, storming southern Israel with gunfire, rockets and grenades, and resulting in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also dragged 251 hostages into Gaza, 44 of them already dead.
At 06:29 am (0329 GMT), the exact time the Hamas attack began three years ago, a tribute is due to be held at Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border, where militants killed 64 residents and abducted 18 people during their attack.
Another event is scheduled at the site of the Nova music festival in southern Israel, where militants killed more than 370 people and seized dozens of hostages.
Bereaved families are also organising a gathering in a Tel Aviv park on Wednesday evening.
High alert
The events will be held under heightened security measures, three weeks from Israel’s general elections and one week after a foiled attack on a Tel Aviv-bound passenger plane.
Israel’s defence minister said Tuesday he had put the military on high alert “in light of intelligence regarding Hamas’s intentions to attempt to carry out attacks” against troops in Gaza on the anniversary.
State memorial ceremonies were held on Monday, during which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza and vowed to continue targeting anyone who was involved in the October 7 attack or who held hostages.
In response to Hamas’s unprecedented assault, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed more than 74,200 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
In the three years since, Israel has also expanded its military reach across the Middle East — fighting on several fronts spanning from a conflict with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to Iran.
In Gaza, the humanitarian situation remains dire despite a fragile US-brokered ceasefire declared last October, with hundreds of thousands still forced to live in tents and temporary structures.
The political future and reconstruction of the war-shattered territory also remains largely stalled in practice.
Israel says it controls more than 60 per cent of the Gaza Strip and has continued its airstrikes, vowing to eliminate threats from Hamas and target those involved in the 7 October attack.
Since the ceasefire, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,430 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
