As announced at the end of August, the families of the Israeli hostages are boycotting the tribute ceremony organized by the government for the first anniversary of the October 7 massacres. An unofficial ceremony is to take place.
There will be no national unity, Monday October 7, for the commemoration in tribute to the victims of the attacks of October 7, 2023. For the deadliest day in Israel since its creation in 1948, the hostage families have decided not to join the official ceremony organized by the Israeli government. Relatives of the victims decided to organize their own commemorations on the evening of October 7.
An official ceremony
The day of commemoration must begin very early in the day. At 6:29 a.m., the time the Israeli army detected the first rocket fire toward Israel a year earlier, the music played at the Nova Festival, in what has become a memorial, should ring out. It must then be interrupted by an alarm, before a minute of silence. 370 people were killed near Kibbutz Reim, where the musical event was held. The families of the victims must be present.
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The more official sequel was pre-recorded. The ceremony chaired by Head of State Isaac Herzog must be broadcast on the evening of Monday October 7. It is this event that the families of the hostages decided to boycott, as announced at the end of August. Some families had even requested the cancellation of the official ceremony and refused “ all use of photos of [leurs] loved ones, dead or alive, details concerning them or the mention of their names ».
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The families will hold an unofficial ceremony at 7 p.m. in north Tel Aviv, in the presence of artists. Only relatives of the victims and hostages are invited to this event and a gauge will be imposed, to facilitate the security of the event. The Israeli army declared on Saturday evening, October 6, that its forces were on alert as the anniversary approached, for fear of attacks. In total, 251 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip. A year later, 97 are still held in captivity, including 33 declared dead.
