Israel Marks 3 Years Since Oct 7 as Gaza Strikes Grind On

Three years to the minute after Hamas-led gunmen stormed across the Gaza border, Israel paused on October 7, 2026, in a national moment of silence — and then went back to arguing about who let it happen. Memorials in more than 400 locations honored the dead of the deadliest day in the country's history, even as Israeli strikes in Gaza continued and a general election loomed just weeks away.

The Nova music festival memorial site in southern Israel, where more than 370 people were killed in the October 7, 2023 attack.

A Minute of Silence at 6:29

At 6:29 a.m. local time, the exact moment the October 7, 2023 assault began, a national minute of silence brought the country to a standstill. Public hospitals, municipalities, universities and private businesses joined the observance, with a second national minute of reflection planned for noon.

The day's commemorations were both official and deeply personal. Two state ceremonies were held at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, attended by President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, according to the Jerusalem Post. But most events were organized from the ground up — by survivors and victims' families through the October Council and the Kumu movement — reflecting a national mood in which official leadership commands little trust.

The Scars of Nova and Kfar Aza

A major focus of the commemorations was the Nova music festival site in the Re'im Forest, where more than 370 people were killed and 44 were abducted during the attack. Families and mourners placed photographs of the dead and observed the silence at the site, now one of Israel's most visited memorials.

At Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border, a tribute was held at 6:29 a.m. for the 64 residents killed there and the 18 people dragged into Gaza. The kibbutz, along with communities like Be'eri and Nir Oz, became shorthand for the failures of Israel's security establishment that day — failures no inquiry has yet fully accounted for, and which now hang over the October 27 general election, Israel's first since the attacks.

The numbers remain staggering. According to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, 1,221 people were killed in the assault and 251 hostages were taken into Gaza, 44 of whom were already dead. The attack — carried out with gunfire, rockets and grenades after militants breached the border fence by land, sea and air — triggered the devastating war that followed.

Gaza Under Fire, Again

The anniversary was observed not under peace but under a fragile ceasefire. Although a truce agreement was reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes have continued almost daily in Gaza, and, according to reports, at least five people were killed in new strikes on the anniversary itself. Since the ceasefire began, 1,460 Palestinians and seven Israeli soldiers have died, underscoring how little the truce has resembled a true end to the war.

Gaza's health ministry says more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, and much of the enclave lies in ruins, with its two million residents living in dire conditions. Israel placed its military on high alert for the anniversary, citing intelligence suggesting Hamas could attempt attacks against Israeli forces in Gaza.

Prime Minister Netanyahu used the state's memorial ceremonies to declare there would be no Hamas rule in Gaza and to vow that Israel would continue targeting anyone involved in the October 7 attack or the holding of hostages.

The First Anniversary Without Hostages

This year's commemoration was the first in which no Israeli hostages remained in Gaza. The last of the 251 abducted were recovered and returned to Israel earlier this year, according to reports, closing a chapter that defined the country's politics for two years.

A national memorial ceremony was scheduled for the evening in Tel Aviv, organized by the Kumu movement and expected to draw tens of thousands. It was to be hosted by former hostage Eli Sharabi and actress Shani Cohen.

The U.S.-backed Board of Peace marked the anniversary with a statement renewing its commitment to a Gaza Strip that is "demilitarized, deradicalized and no longer capable of threatening Israel," while the return of the final hostages was hailed as a fulfillment of President Donald Trump's demand under his Gaza plan.

Hamas Uses the Day for Its Own Message

Hamas, for its part, used the anniversary for propaganda of its own. Abu Obaida, spokesman for the group's military wing, called the attack a "military miracle" that shattered Israel's security doctrine, according to JFeed. He suggested that drone attacks from multiple fronts had "deprived the enemy of sleep" and called on Sudan and Libya to join Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran in supporting the Palestinian cause — a reminder that the war's regional shockwaves have not settled.

Mourners hold candles at a Tel Aviv vigil remembering the victims of the October 7 attacks (Times of Israel photo).

What This Means

Three years on, October 7 has become Israel's defining political fault line rather than a moment of national unity. Grassroots commemoration events have effectively displaced the state's ceremonies as the center of mourning, driven by a belief among many survivors and bereaved families that the government has failed to take responsibility for the failures that made the attack possible.

The anger was visible in the day's protests. In Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square, the central fountain was dyed red, surrounded by pictures, flowers and messages. Protesters blocked a main highway carrying banners reading "the people will remember their sons and daughters" alongside images of Netanyahu labeled "a complete failure" and "guilty." An art installation displayed 1,200 human figures — one for each of the dead — beside large Hebrew letters spelling "Total Failure."

Visitors walk through the Nova memorial site in southern Israel, where more than 370 people were killed on October 7, 2023.

What Happens Next

The anniversary lands three weeks before the October 27 Knesset election, where October 7 accountability is expected to be a central issue for voters. Netanyahu's rivals are making his handling of the attack and the war a focal point of their campaigns.

Beyond the election, the harder questions remain untouched: the state inquiry into the security failures that has still not been held, the fate of Gaza's millions under continued strikes and a truce that functions more as a pause than a settlement, and whether the Board of Peace's vision of a demilitarized, deradicalized Gaza is achievable or another diplomatic fiction.

For now, Israel's third October 7 anniversary ends the way the day began: with remembrance — and with the war still not over.