RALLY FOR HOSTAGES
In the early hours of Oct 7, 2023, Hamas launched its attack by firing thousands of rockets towards Israeli border communities.
At the same time Hamas fighters stormed across the border and attacked nearly 50 different sites, including kibbutzim communities, army bases and the Nova music festival.
Militants killed festival-goers en masse and went door-to-door in farming communities, shooting residents dead in their homes.
Hours later, Israel launched a blistering military offensive on Gaza that has reduced swathes of the territory to rubble, and displaced nearly all of its 2.4 million residents at least once amid an unrelenting humanitarian crisis.
Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.
Some 251 people were captured and taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, of whom 97 are still held captive in the coastal territory, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
An Israeli campaign group on Monday announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza named Idan Shtivi, 28, who was abducted at the Nova festival.
In retaliation for the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas and to bring home all the hostages.
“A year ago, we suffered a terrible blow. Over the past 12 months, we have completely transformed reality,” Netanyahu said on Sunday during a visit to the Lebanon border.
With Israel expanding the focus of its war to Lebanon, Netanyahu has promised to ensure tens of thousands of Israelis forced to flee Hezbollah fire are able to return to their homes.
Since last month, Israel has conducted massive strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon and launched ground operations across the border.
The war has killed more than 1,110 people in Lebanon and forced more than one million to flee their homes.
But Israel’s campaign in Gaza is far from over. In the north of the Palestinian territory, the Israeli military said it had encircled the Jabaliya area after indications Hamas was rebuilding there.
Rescuers said 17 people, including nine children, had been killed on Sunday by Israeli air strikes in the area.
