Israelis gathered Wednesday at massacre sites, kibbutzim and memorials to mark three years since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, with this year’s anniversary the first since all remaining hostages, living and dead, were returned.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Israelis gathered across the country Wednesday to mourn victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, returning to the communities, roads and festival grounds where about 1,200 people were killed three years ago.
At the Nova music festival site near Reim, where more than 350 people were killed in and around the festival grounds, relatives and survivors embraced and wept as they remembered those who did not survive. The commemoration began at 6:29 a.m., the time the first rockets were launched from Gaza on the morning of the attack, according to NPR.
The Oct. 7 assault was the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Hamas-led militants crossed the border from Gaza, attacked communities and military positions across southern Israel and took 251 people hostage.
This year’s observance is the first Oct. 7 anniversary since all of the hostages, living and dead, were returned from Gaza.
Among those marking the anniversary in Israel for the first time was Elkana Bohbot, 37, who was abducted from the Nova festival and spent 738 days in captivity.
Bohbot has said he spent most of that time roughly 50 meters underground in a dark tunnel, with little food and few opportunities to bathe. His captors also forced him to participate in propaganda videos.
Since his release, Bohbot has undergone physical and emotional rehabilitation. He and his wife recently welcomed a daughter, a milestone he had promised himself he would pursue while still being held underground.
The anniversary also brought renewed attention to the extensive tunnel infrastructure Hamas used during the attack and subsequent war.
The Israel Defense Forces recently allowed journalists to enter a roughly 1½-mile tunnel near Kibbutz Nahal Oz that the military says Hamas used during the Oct. 7 assault and to hold some of the 18 soldiers and civilians abducted from the area.
The underground complex contained reinforced doors, electricity, running water, air conditioning, sleeping areas and other infrastructure capable of supporting fighters for extended periods, according to the New York Post.
More than 60 Israeli soldiers and 15 civilians were killed in and around Nahal Oz during the attack, according to the IDF account.
Nearby Kfar Aza also remains deeply scarred.
Sixty-four residents were killed there, including children, and many homes were destroyed or burned. The kibbutz, once home to roughly 1,000 people, has struggled to rebuild as some residents remain unwilling or unable to return.
Among the survivors are twins Gali and Ziv Berman, who were abducted from Kfar Aza at age 26 and held separately in Gaza for approximately two years before being released in October 2025.
The brothers have described being beaten, deprived of food and confined underground for much of their captivity. Since returning home, they have tried to resume ordinary life, including attending soccer matches, traveling and celebrating their 29th birthdays.
“But we are alive,” Gali Berman told The New York Times. “We take nothing for granted.”
The Oct. 7 attack transformed Israel and the wider Middle East.
Israel launched a prolonged military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and later fought Hezbollah in Lebanon while directly confronting Iran and other Iran-backed groups.
The war in Gaza left much of the territory devastated and displaced most of its roughly 2 million residents. Palestinian health authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed during the conflict, figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
A ceasefire reached in 2025 ended the most intense phase of fighting and led to the release of the remaining hostages, though violence has continued and Gaza remains extensively damaged.
Inside Israel, Oct. 7 also triggered years of political argument over how the attack was allowed to occur and whether senior officials should be held accountable for the intelligence and security failures preceding it.
Those divisions remain prominent ahead of Israel’s first national election since the attack, with opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continuing to call for an independent inquiry.
Wednesday’s memorials, however, focused primarily on those killed, kidnapped and wounded.
Families gathered at roadside shelters where people had been murdered while trying to escape the Nova festival. Survivors returned to damaged kibbutzim. Others stood silently at memorials throughout Israel.
For former hostages and their families, the anniversary also reflected the effort to build new lives after years shaped by captivity and uncertainty.
Bohbot’s newborn daughter, the Berman twins’ return to everyday activities and other former hostages’ efforts to rebuild families and careers have become part of the broader story of recovery.
Three years after the attack, the physical and political consequences remain visible across Israel and Gaza.
For many Israelis gathering Wednesday, however, the central purpose of Oct. 7 remained simpler: remembering those who were killed and ensuring that the events of that morning are not forgotten.
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