one year after the October 7 attack, Israel pays tribute to the victims of Hamas

With candles, prayers and music, hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the bloody attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas on Israeli soil.

The ceremony was held in a concert hall to honor the victims of the Nova music festival, where nearly 3,000 people gathered a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip, when Hamas fighters attacked the venue on October 7, 2023. , killing a total of at least 370 people, according to official Israeli data.

Photos of the victims flashed on a screen, while participants lit candles, wrote messages or hugged each other in silence.

“Coming here, one year after this atrocious massacre, is deeply moving”says Solly Laniado, one of the organizers. “We don’t know how to find the words. We are afraid of bursting into tears. » “Three days ago, we didn’t even think about organizing the event”he confided to Agence France-Presse, referring to the tension felt after recent rocket alerts and a missile attack on Tel Aviv.

“It’s a difficult day”says Omri Sasi, 35, one of the producers of last year’s festival, who survived the attack, but who says he lost around 50 friends that day, including an uncle, a pregnant cousin and her husband . The two-day festival was held in the fields around Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza entered southern Israel, using explosives and bulldozers to breach the barrier separating the Palestinian territory from Israel, killing indiscriminately in kibbutzim, bases military and on the site of the Nova music festival.