Israel marks 1,000 days since Oct 7 with memorials, protests

Israel on Thursday marked the 1,000th day since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack with calls for a state commission of inquiry into the unprecedented assault that triggered the war in Gaza.

A series of sombre commemorative events are due to be held across the country, as well as protests against the government’s handling of events during and after the attack.

The first began at 6:29 am (0329 GMT) — the exact time at which the Palestinian Islamist movement launched its attack on Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.

The Hamas-led attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 hostages to Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

After a ceasefire took effect on October 10 last year, at least 1,053 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry, and the Israeli military says it has lost five soldiers and one contractor over the same period.

Israeli forces occupy nearly 70 percent of the territory.

The “October Council”, founded by the families of victims and hostages taken on October 7, is one of the main organisers of the day’s events.

Gatherings are scheduled in front of the Israeli parliament and near the homes of government members.

“The families of the hostages and the bereaved families are demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry now!” the October Council said on x.

The “Hostages Square” plaza in Tel Aviv, which became a focal point for the struggle to release the captives during the Gaza war, is due to be renamed “Memory Square”.

A memorial event is also scheduled to be held at 8:00 pm in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, bringing together victims’ families and leading figures of the protest movement against the Israeli authorities and their handling of events.

Israel’s military chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, on Monday said that “This day reminds us of our overall responsibility and the weight that rests on our shoulders”.

“We remember, we learn, and we prepare for the continuation of combat and the many challenges still ahead,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

Gadi Eizenkot, former army chief and now a leading candidate to succeed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the elections due to be held in October, marked the day in a short X post.

“1,000 days. We will still prove ourselves worthy. I promise. Gadi,” he wrote.

According to polls, a large number of Israelis across the political spectrum support the establishment of a body to determine who is responsible for the authorities’ failure to prevent the deadliest-ever attack on Israel.

Netanyahu’s government, however, has long refused to establish such a commission, the likes of which Israel has commonly set up in the past to investigate major state-level failings.

AFP