Monday, October 07, 2024 - Thousands of people gathered over the weekend for the first emotional commemorations marking the anniversary of Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The October 7 attack resulted in the d£ath of 1,205 people,
most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli
figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least
41,870 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, according to figures
provided by the territory's health ministry and described as reliable by the
United Nations. It has also resulted in military offensives against Hezbollah
and a possible attack on Iran after Israel was attacked by 200 ballistic
misiles from Iran last week.
The first candlelight vigils, memorials and marches to mark
the anniversary were held in cities ranging from Tel Aviv to London, Paris and
Berlin.
In Tel Aviv, friends and relatives of the 370 people killed
in the massacre at the Nova dance festival held a candlelight vigil Sunday
evening at a concert hall.
In London, thousands gathered in Hyde Park, waving Israeli
flags and "bring them home" placards with faces of the hostages still
held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Photos of those killed on October 7 were shown on a big
screen as attendees lit candles in their honour.
"We want to remember the people who have been
brutally murdered and we want the world to remember," Henry Grunwald,
chair of the organising committee, told AFP.
Mandy Damari, whose daughter Emily was one of the 251 people
taken hostage by Hamas, said her daughter was "full of life".
"I need to hug her again and I need to see
her smile", she said, on the verge of tears.
In Berlin, around 650 people attended a commemoration on
Saturday. Police said they had detained 26 people who shouted insults at
participants.
In Paris, thousands of people gathered on Sunday to remember the victims of the attack.
"We're here in support of Israel, the Israeli
people, in memory of those who were killed and for those who were
kidnapped" that day, Robert Zbili, the president of the National Jewish
Fund, told AFP.
The president of Israel (pictured below) who attended the
scene of the attack, said the country is "still in pain" a year on
from the 7 October Hamas attacks.
In a statement before he set off on his three-day
commemoration tour, Isaac Herzog said: "A year has passed since life came
to a halt, the skies darkened, and all of us witnessed the monstrous cruelty of
the enemy that sought to bring destruction upon the Jewish people, the State of
Israel, and Israeli society.
"We are all still in pain, and we seek to make space for
national mourning, for the tears over the terrible disaster that struck
us."
He also pledged to "rebuild and restore" Israel,
saying that work will not be complete until all hostages are freed from Hamas.
In a video message, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Daniel
Meron, called on the UN "to for once condemn Hamas in writing in one
resolution".
The build-up to the anniversary has been marked by soaring
tension, with fears the ongoing conflict could spiral into a wider war.
In a statement late Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir
Starmer said: "One year on from these horrific attacks we must
unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country.
"We must never look the other way in the face of
hate."
He also called for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and for a
free flow of aid into Gaza.
"We must also not look the other way as civilians bear
the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East."
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