Israel marks 3 years since Oct. 7 with memorial ceremonies, anti-government protests

Israel on Wednesday marked three years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack from Gaza, in which some 5,600 terrorists stormed across the border, massacred some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages to Gaza, on the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and the opening shot of the subsequent multi-front war.

Memorial events took place throughout the day in cities and towns across the country. Though the state officially marks the anniversary on a different date, set according to the Hebrew calendar (this year governmental ceremonies were held October 5), many municipalities still chose to fly flags at half-staff Wednesday, as various bodies and non-state advocacy groups held ceremonies. Activists also protested the government, which was some nine months into its term when the attack took place.

Ceremonies began at 6:29 a.m., the time when the invasion began.

At that hour, a number of anti-government protesters briefly blocked the key Ayalon Highway in the center of the country to hold a moment of silence.

Demonstrators also gathered at junctions across the country and outside the homes of government ministers, and activists dyed the iconic fountain in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square red.

At noon, the October Council, a group of survivors of the onslaught and bereaved families, held a nationwide minute of silence.

Other ceremonies and events took place throughout the morning, with additional events scheduled for the afternoon and evening.

At 6:29 p.m., survivors and bereaved families will come together at Kibbutz Re’im, the site of the Nova music festival, where terrorists massacred 378 people and took 44 hostages to Gaza.

The main national ceremony organized by survivors and bereaved families will be held by the Kumu (“Rise Up”) organization at 9:15 p.m. in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.

In Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where some 520 terrorists murdered and kidnapped dozens of people, residents held a vigil for those killed, standing in silence as a trumpet played a solemn call. A resident read out a roll call of the dead.

Zion Regev, a community leader in the kibbutz, said most residents remain displaced and have yet to return, the trauma of October 7 continuing to shape their lives.

“This is the first time we are doing all the things here in the kibbutz,” Regev said of the vigil. “It’s a very emotional day, it’s a very difficult day for our community, three years after October 7.”

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who was in office at the time of the attack, visited the kibbutz, as did Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman.

Nearby, at a ceremony for the 16 female surveillance soldiers killed at the Nahal Oz military outpost, their families praised their heroism amid the terror.

“At 6:29 a.m. three years ago, when the gates of hell were opened, none of us could have imagined that the worst thing possible would occur,” said Dror Ashram, whose daughter Sgt. Shay Ashram was one of those killed.

“We stand here three years later, and there is no forgiveness, and there never will be, for the loss of our girls. For the hell they went through in their final moments, for the failures, for the abandonment of them and of us. We will not forget and we will not forgive,” he said, as the families gathered at a monument to the troops.

Military investigators have described the battle at the Nahal Oz base as one of the IDF’s biggest failures on October 7. In all, 53 soldiers were killed at the base: 31 combat troops and 22 noncombat soldiers, including 16 female surveillance soldiers. Another 10 were abducted — seven female surveillance soldiers and three tank soldiers.

Ashram called for the IDF to recognize the heroism of the soldiers.

“They all, without exception, demonstrated extraordinary courage, camaraderie, determination, and steadfastness in purpose in the face of the enemy,” he said, in comments reported by Channel 12.

“Heroism in battle is measured in many ways. To be in the midst of hell, in mortal fear, inside a shelter breached from all sides, and to understand that these might be your final moments but still hand your phone to your friends so they can say goodbye to their parents — that is heroism.”

“To calm your friends and then even your own parents, when you yourself are in terror, that is heroism. To throw back grenades that terrorists hurled into the shelter, when you’re barefoot, in pajamas, with bare hands, that is heroism.”

“To see on the cameras the terrorists breaching the fence, and continue to report over the radio, professionally and with cool-headedness, guiding forces to save others, that is heroism!” Ashram said.

Leading up to the Hamas-led invasion and massacre, surveillance soldiers sent alerts about terrorists training for an attack and were infamously ignored. Some surveillance soldiers, almost all of whom are women, have said sexism was a factor in their warnings being brushed aside.

The Israel Police also held ceremonies to honor colleagues killed in the attack, with a central ceremony held at the police station in Sderot, the scene of a brutal battle in which terrorists killed 20 police officers before barricading themselves inside and exchanging heavy fire with security forces. Dozens more police officers were killed in battles across the south on October 7.

Opposition chiefs visit south; Ben Gvir speaks in West Bank

Opposition leaders visited sites of the massacre in the south, joining bereaved families and community members to remember the victims.

Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot visited a roadside bomb shelter in Re’im with Shira Shapira, a member of his party’s slate. Shapira’s son, off-duty soldier Staff Sgt. Aner Shapira, was killed defending the shelter as it was attacked by terrorists, throwing seven grenades back outside.

B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett, who stayed overnight at a kibbutz on the border, came to the site of the Nova music festival. He said he was “surrounded by families and friends” in shared grief and remembrance.

Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who serves in the same role he held during the attack, marked the anniversary at the security barrier near Nitzanei Oz in central Israel, where he warned against a similar attack from the West Bank.

“Three years later, we must not repeat the same mistake. October 7 must not happen in Netanya, Kfar Saba and the Sharon region,” he said, calling to disarm and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

Yarden Bibas to murdered wife, kids: ‘Sorry, I love you’

The day also saw public statements on social media by survivors of Hamas captivity, as well as family members of people killed in the attack.

Former hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were kidnapped and then murdered in captivity in Gaza, posted a plea for forgiveness to his family on social media.

“Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. Sorry. Sorry that you are up there and I am here,” he wrote. “I love you more than anything in the world. Always. Forever.”

Bibas was released last year as part of the second ceasefire deal with Hamas. The bodies of Shiri, Ariel (4), and Kfir (8 months), were also returned under the same framework. An Israeli autopsy determined that they were murdered by their Hamas guards.

Einav Zangauker, who became a protest leader when her son Matan was taken hostage, assailed the government for not taking responsibility for the failures surrounding the attack and for refusing to establish an independent commission of inquiry to probe them.

“They’re trying to make us forget what happened on October 7,” she told Army Radio. “We won’t forget; we will demand the truth because that is our legacy. In their memory and for their sake.”

“The fear is engraved in my heart, the tears that don’t stop, the heart that hurts and bleeds until this very moment and is shattered into pieces,” she said.

Matan Zangauker was among the last living hostages released as part of the October 2025 deal that put an end to large-scale fighting in the Strip. He was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky, who was freed in November 2023.