Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the world to support Israel in the fight against its enemies, as he spoke Monday during a ceremony marking exactly one year since the terrorist attacks that shocked the world and Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza provoked.
“This is a scar on humanity. This is a scar on the earth,” Herzog said at the site of the 2023 Nova music festival near the Gaza border.
Terrorists from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and other militants stormed across the border exactly a year ago, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage in southern Israeli communities and at the festival.
Nearly 400 people were killed at the music festival alone.
“The world must realize and understand that in order to change the course of history and bring peace and a better future to the region, it must support Israel in its fight against its enemies,” Herzog said.
“We are fighting the battle for the free world.”
A year of war
The October 7 attacks triggered the massive Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and a subsequent ground invasion.
According to local health authorities, which are controlled by Hamas, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza. Most of these are civilians, although this figure does not distinguish between civilians and militants.
Tensions have soared since then, bringing the Middle East to the brink of a wider conflict.
Israel also faces daily attacks on its northern border with Lebanon by the militant group Hezbollah – which backs Hamas and is also backed by Iran – and has sent troops into southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said on Sunday it had launched a new ground offensive in Gaza as fighting continued along the Lebanese border.
Global grief over deaths in the Middle East
The past year has been an “unrelenting tragedy” in the Middle East, the United Nations said on Monday.
“No statistics or words can fully capture the scale of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has occurred,” said Joyce Msuya, acting head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Msuya called on EU member states to “exercise their influence” to ensure international humanitarian law and human rights are respected.
“They must also work to end impunity. An immediate ceasefire and lasting peace are long overdue.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “our hearts are also with the Jewish communities around the world.”
“On this tragic anniversary, I would like to honor the memories of the victims,” she said in a written statement, adding that the EU “stands with all the innocent people whose lives have been shattered to the core since that fateful day.”
Hamas’ attack “caused immense suffering not only for the people of Israel, but also for innocent Palestinians.”
Mourning day for relatives
While the nation unites in mourning, Israel is nevertheless divided when it comes to finding a way out of the conflict and bringing the remaining hostages in Gaza home.
Some family members accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government of not doing enough to bring their loved ones back alive.
Dozens of family members and their supporters held a demonstration outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, demanding that Netanyahu strike a deal so that “the living can reconnect with their lives and the dead can be buried with dignity.”
