One year ago, the Hamas squads brutally attacked the peacefully sleeping Israelis, not sparing women, children, and the elderly, insulting their victims, and after the terrible attack, they retreated to the Gaza Strip, taking many hostages with them.

A year has already passed since the tragic day that left a mark on Israel and the entire Middle East forever. On October 7, 2023, a holiday, the Israelis woke up to a barrage of rockets in the early morning hours, and at the same time, the fighters of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas invaded Israel, killed about twelve hundred people, and took more than two hundred as hostages to the Gaza Strip.

"The attack on October 7 was and will forever be a huge shock for Israel," said Robert C. Castel, security policy advisor for the Center for Fundamental Rights. "Trust in the political, military, and intelligence elites has been shaken to such an extent that it will take many decades to restore it," he added.

According to the expert, at the same time, there was a positive reading of what happened: Israel was able to come back and successfully completed a series of tasks that many considered impossible, and this gives hope and self-confidence.

The attack also left a mark on Israeli society.

Many events and rallies are planned in the country to commemorate the attack. Meanwhile, the army said it was attacking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army also announced that at least four shells were fired from the Gaza Strip a few minutes after the country officially began commemorating the attacks on October 7 last year.

President Jichák Hercog started the day with a minute's silence at the Nova music festival site at the moment the attack began.

Hundreds of terrorists attacked there, killing at least 370 people.

During the day, the head of state visited the survivors of the kibbutzim that suffered the attack, with whom he remembered the tragedy.

Many of the victims' family members also attended the commemoration.

In Jerusalem, in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence, hundreds of people gathered together with the family members of the hostages.

Cover photo: Many kibbutzim across the country commemorated the attack a year ago. The recording was made in the Kisufim kibbutz
Source: X/Isaac Herzog