Memorials were held at Kfar Aza and other sites of the 2023 Hamas-led attacks, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Gaza's health ministry says more than 74,000 people have been killed in the war that followed.
Israelis gathered on Wednesday at a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was overrun on October 7, 2023, Reuters reported from Kfar Aza and Gaza. The Hamas-led attacks killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, the deadliest day in Israel's history. The anniversary falls 20 days before an Israeli election.
Israel's bombardment and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 74,000 people, Reuters said, including at least 1,400 in the past year of a US-brokered ceasefire. The Guardian, citing Gaza's health ministry, put the toll at least 74,243 and said the UN considers those figures reliable. The ceasefire halted major fighting but has not stopped Israeli attacks or secured Hamas disarmament, Reuters said.
Memorials were held at homes, roadsides, kibbutzim and the Nova music festival site, where militants killed more than 360 people and took 44 hostages, NBC reported. Gaza's conditions remain dire, Reuters said, with most residents displaced.
The item is the anniversary commemoration and the continuing toll, not a new military operation. Casualty figures come from Israeli and Gaza authorities as cited by Reuters and the Guardian, and are not independently recounted here.
No new political agreement was announced with the memorials. The next dated political marker in the Reuters account is the Israeli election.