Israel marks three years since October 7 as Gaza strikes continue ahead of vote
Families gathered at memorial sites across southern Israel on Wednesday to mourn 1,200 victims, while Israeli strikes killed two people in Gaza 20 days before Israel holds parliamentary elections.
Commemorations across southern Israel
Families and survivors gathered at sunrise on Wednesday across southern Israel to mark three years since the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023. At the Nova music festival site near Reim, where at least 348 people were killed, relatives embraced at 6:29 a.m., the exact moment the first rockets were launched three years earlier. Additional memorial gatherings took place at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and at the Mount Herzl national cemetery. The anniversary is the first observed with no Israeli captives remaining in Gaza, after all 251 hostages were returned alive or dead through swaps and military recoveries, concluding with the return of the final body in January 2026.
Anya Davitashili, who lost her 25-year-old son Sean at the music festival, described the enduring grief at the memorial site:
Every morning, you wake up and there is just endless missing.
- Hamas militants attack southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
- France and several other nations recognize a Palestinian state.
- Donald Trump announces a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
- The remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza are recovered.
- Israelis commemorate the three-year anniversary of the attacks.
- Israel conducts parliamentary elections.
Ongoing strikes and conditions in Gaza
Across the border in Gaza, Israeli military strikes continue almost daily despite the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump in October 2025. On Wednesday morning, an Israeli strike in Gaza City killed two people, including a Civil Defense rescue volunteer, according to officials at Al-Shifa Hospital. Over the three years of conflict, Israeli operations have killed 74,245 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, with 1,462 of those fatalities recorded after the October 2025 truce. More than half of Gaza remains under Israeli military control behind the yellow line, while most of the territory's two million residents live in tent camps among damaged urban ruins.
- Total deaths across three years
- 74245 people
- Deaths recorded since October 2025 truce
- 1462 people
Clashing views on accountability
Security failures surrounding the 2023 attack remain a central dispute in Israeli public life. At Mount Herzl, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised continued military action against those responsible, while President Isaac Herzog demanded a formal investigation into the intelligence and operational lapses.
No passage of time absolves us from this duty.
IDF Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir told soldiers at the Zikim military base that tactical successes do not erase the failure of that day. Netanyahu has resisted establishing an independent judicial commission of inquiry, arguing that any investigation must wait until military operations conclude and claiming a judge-led panel would be biased against him.
Parliamentary election on 27 October
The anniversary comes 20 days before Israel holds its first parliamentary election since the 2023 attacks, scheduled for 27 October 2026. The campaign is largely centered on Netanyahu's record and wartime leadership, dividing families of victims and former hostages. Some relatives, such as Talik Gvili, whose soldier son Ran was killed on 7 October, have joined Netanyahu's party to run for the Knesset. Other bereaved relatives have demanded his removal from office over the initial security breakdown.
Merav Svirsky, whose parents and brother were killed in Kibbutz Beeri and Gaza, expressed her opposition to the current government:
It cannot be that the person who led us into the worst massacre this country has ever seen, which cost me the lives of my family, continues to lead this nation.
