Israel marks three years since Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks

Summary

Israelis are marking three years since the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage
Memorial events are taking place across Israel, and began with a nationwide minute's silence at 06:29 local time (04:29 BST) to mark the time the attacks started
At kibbutz Kfar Aza, the widow of one victim tells our correspondent of the moment her husband stopped answering his phone: "After that, I only know things from stories"
People are also visiting the site of the Nova music festival, where 378 people were killed and 44 taken hostage
Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza in response to the 7 October attacks, in which more than 74,200 people have since been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry
The territory Palestinians inhabit today bears little resemblance to the Gaza that existed before the war, writes our correspondent Rushdi Abualouf
Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza to report freely

Live Reporting

Edited by Kieran Kelly and Owen Amos, with reporting from Lucy Williamson in southern Israel

Anti-government protesters dye fountain red in Tel Avivpublished at 08:07 BST
Image source, EPA/Shutterstock
Anti-government protesters have dyed the fountain in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square red to mark the anniversary of 7 October attacks.
The fountain has been used as a memorial site for victims of the attacks, with pictures, flowers and messages laid around the basin wall.
Protesters also blocked one of the main highways in Tel Aviv to hold a moment of silence for those killed on 7 October earlier this morning.
They held banners that read "the people will remember their sons and daughters" along with others that say "a complete failure" and "guilty" next to an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Anti-government groups in Israel, such as the October Council and the Kumu Movement, have been demanding a public inquiry into the 7 October attacks.
Image source, EPA
Despite the ceasefire, violence continues in Gazapublished at 07:38 BST
Image source, NurPhoto via Getty Images
Image caption,
The aftermath of an Israeli strike that hit an apartment building in Gaza City on 3 October
It's approaching a year since a ceasefire was declared in Gaza.
Hamas and Israel agreed to halt the war after accepting US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan. It included a suspension of "all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment".
Since it was declared, Israeli strikes have continued, and the UN has warned of dire living conditions.
More than 1,460 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire was declared, according to latest figures from the territory's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military has said it operates "a precise manner to remove threats and protect its troops and Israeli civilians, in accordance with the agreement".
Last month, the Israeli military said that five troops had been killed in combat since the ceasefire began, and one contractor had died in an "operational accident".

What happened on 7 October?published at 07:18 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
A torched house at Kibbutz Nir Oz photographed in December 2023, two months after the Hamas-led attack
Shortly after sunrise on 7 October 2023, the Hamas-led attack on Israel began.
It started with a barrage of thousands of rockets fired into the country.
As rockets flew, an estimated 6,000 Hamas-led militants breached the border into Israel in dozens of places, entering in cars, on motorbikes or in some cases by paraglider.
They attacked military bases and stormed through multiple kibbutzim - small villages - near the border, burning homes and killing civilians. One kibbutz, Nir Oz, saw 41 people killed and 76 kidnapped out of its 400-strong community
The attackers also targeted a music festival in the Negev desert. They gunned down partygoers at Nova festival, killing 378 people and kidnapping 44 more, according to an IDF tally.
In total, around 1,200 people killed and 251 others were taken as hostages, making it the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel responded to the 7 October attacks by launching a military offensive in Gaza, triggering a war which has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Thousands of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on 7 October. This street in Tel Aviv was among the places damaged
Hundreds gather for vigil at Bondi in Sydneypublished at 06:44 BST
Image source, EPA
Image caption,
Those in attendance held a minute's silence at 06:29 local time
Hundreds of people gathered at dawn in Sydney, Australia, to mark the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
The event at Bondi on Wednesday morning included a minute’s silence at 06:29am local time (20:29 BST Tuesday), to mark the exact time of the Hamas-led assault in Israel.
Several members of the public draped themselves in Israeli flags as they gathered at Bondi Pavilion to commemorate the lives lost three years ago.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman told the crowd that behind every person killed on October 7 was "a face and a family”, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
He also said "there is a direct line between the shooting at Nova [the music festival targeted by Hamas] and the shooting at Bondi".
On 14 December 2025, 15 people were killed during an antisemitic attack on a Hanukah celebration at Bondi, Sydney.
Image source, Reuters

Across Israel, people remember those killed on 7 Octoberpublished at 06:19 BST
Israelis are comforting each other at memorial events across Israel, as they remember those killed in the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October.
Three years ago, about 1,200 people were killed, and 251 taken hostage, in the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
In Tel Aviv, drivers stopped their cars to observe the minute's silence
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Two people embrace near a memorial of red anemone sculptures. The flowers tend to bloom in nearby Reim forest
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
People react as they visit the site of the Nova music festival, where 378 people were killed
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Two people embrace as the sun rises over Kfar Aza
Palestinians believe the threat of displacement from Gaza remains realpublished at 05:58 BST
Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Damaged buildings in Gaza City, as seen on 28 September
Three years after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, the overriding fear among many Palestinians I have spoken to is no longer simply about how the war will end.
It is about whether Gaza’s Palestinians will ultimately be able to remain on their land.
Over recent weeks, I have spoken to officials from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, as well as figures from across the Palestinian political spectrum.
Despite their deep divisions, there is an unusual degree of agreement on one issue: they believe the threat of large-scale displacement from Gaza remains real.
They also agree that Palestinians currently lack either the military or political means to prevent such a scenario if it were to unfold.
That fear has become one of the defining features of Gaza three years after 7 October.
The territory Palestinians inhabit today bears little resemblance to the Gaza that existed before the war. Large parts have been devastated.
Much of the population remains displaced, many living in tents and makeshift shelters, while access to food, clean water and medical treatment remains severely restricted.

Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza in wake of attackpublished at 05:36 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Displaced Palestinians’ tents are seen in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip
In the wake of the 7 October attack, Israel launched an extensive military offensive in Gaza, displacing more than a million people and killing tens of thousands.
According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, at least 74,200 people have been in killed in Gaza by Israel since the action began.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian needs in Gaza remain "overwhelming", with many struggling to access water, food and medicine.
An estimated 80% of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN.
More than 1.9 million people - about 90% of the territory's population - have been displaced, many of them multiple times, and 1.2 million of them are currently living in tents or makeshift shelters, it says.
Last year, the world's leading association of genocide scholars declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has regularly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as a means of self-defence.
A ceasefire came into effect last October, though Israeli airstrikes and attacks on populated areas have continued.
'I get a message saying he loves me'published at 05:12 BST
Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent
The widow of the deputy commander of Kfar Aza's civil defence unit, who was killed by Hamas gunmen three years ago, describes the moment he stopped answering his phone.
“My stomach flips and I start to worry,” she says as her voice begins to break with tears.
“At 7:21, I get a message saying he loves me,” she continues. “It’s the best present I ever got.”
“After that, I only know things from stories.”

Names of victims read aloud at Kfar Azapublished at 04:55 BST
Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent
As the sky began to lighten over Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel attacked by Hamas, people trickled in twos and threes towards the armoury building.
The cawing of crows cuts through the regular thud of artillery from Gaza, just a few kilometres away, and the buzz of a military drone overhead.
In the gloom, a small crowd of residents gathered at the armoury where seven members of the kibbutz’s civil defence unit were attacked and killed by Hamas gunmen that morning.
At 06:29 (04:29 BST), the flag was lowered to half-mast to the sound of a lone bugle, and their names read aloud.
A young woman stood apart from the crowd, crying quietly.
Image source, Lucy Williamson/BBC
Dawn breaks in Israel on third anniversary of Hamas attackspublished at 04:32 BST
People are visiting memorials at the site of the Nova music festival where more than 378 people were killed and 44 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 2023.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters

What happened to the 251 hostages captured by Hamas?published at 04:22 BST
On 7 October 2023, 251 hostages were captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Of these, 168 were freed or rescued, while 83 were killed.
The Israeli military retrieved the body of the last hostage in Gaza, Master Sgt Ran Gvili, in January 2026.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We promised - and I promised - to bring everyone back. We brought them all back, down to the very last captive."
Once Gvili's body was returned, a former Israeli hostage who was held for nearly 500 days in Gaza told the BBC that the released captives can "now breathe and start our lives again".
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy, after being released from Gaza in January 2025. She was dragged from her home in southern Israel during Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack
Events taking place throughout day in Israelpublished at 04:02 BST
A number of events are taking place in Israel today, as it marks three years since the deadliest terror attack in its history.
At 06:29 (04:29 BST) - the time Hamas launched its attack three years ago - there will be a national minute's silence. There will also be a memorial at Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near Gaza that was attacked.
Further ceremonies will take place throughout the day, including at Reim - the site of the Nova music festival where more than 378 people were killed, and 44 taken hostage.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Members of the kibbutz community of Kfar Aza observe a moment's silence during last year's commemorations

Israelis remember 7 October attacks, three years onpublished at 04:00 BST
Image source, EPA/Shutterstock
Image caption,
People visited the memorial site near Kibbutz Re'im on Sunday
Israel is today marking three years since Hamas's attacks on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 more taken hostage.
Israel responded to the deadliest attacks on Jews since the Holocaust by launching an extensive military offensive in Gaza which has killed at least 74,200 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
Hamas and Israel agreed to halt the war in October last year as part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan, including the suspension of "all military operations" and Hamas handing over the last of the hostages.
Gaza's health ministry says more than 1,460 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the territory since the ceasefire was declared. The Israeli military says it is pursuing Hamas commanders or terrorists.
Multiple memorial events have been planned across Israel to commemorate the 7 October attacks, including at the site of the Nova music festival where hundreds were killed and taken hostage.
Stay with us for updates on events in Israel and across the world, alongside reporting from our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell.