JERUSALEM — Israelis marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Tuesday with vigils at the Nova music festival site and Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, as Gaza health authorities put the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s subsequent campaign above 74,000, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.
The Hamas-led assault killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 taken hostage, setting off a war that has reshaped the Middle East. This is the first anniversary with no hostages remaining in Gaza: the last remains were recovered in January after a series of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges under a ceasefire reached last year.
Even on the anniversary day, violence continued. Palestinian authorities said at least two people were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Tuesday, and explosions were heard near the Nova memorial gathering, according to AFP. Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the reported strikes.
The solemn milestone arrives 20 days before Israel’s Oct. 27 election — the first since the attack and widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has rejected blame for the security failures of 2023 and resisted calls for an independent inquiry. An Israel Democracy Institute poll found 68% of Jewish Israelis say Oct. 7 is central to how they will vote, and some bereaved families have entered the race as candidates.
The three years since the attack have also redrawn the region: wars with Hezbollah in Lebanon, direct exchanges of fire with Iran, the fall of the Assad government in Syria, and a renewed escalation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis. Gaza lies largely in ruins, with most of its population displaced and the enclave dependent on international aid.
World leaders marked the anniversary with renewed calls for a lasting resolution. The fragile ceasefire has held for over a year, but diplomats caution that none of the war’s underlying questions — Gaza’s governance, the remaining Israeli military presence, or the broader Palestinian question — has been settled.
