Israel marks three years since the Oct. 7 attack as bereaved families press for an inquiry before the election

Israel began marking three years since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, on Wednesday with ceremonies, memorials and protests at more than 400 locations, starting with a national moment of silence at 6:29 a.m., the minute the assault began, CNN reported. That morning, gunmen stormed communities along the Gaza border, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, in what CNN called the deadliest single day in Israel’s history.

Survivors and bereaved families gathered at dawn at the site of the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, where 378 people were killed and 44 were taken to Gaza, The Times of Israel reported. Some municipalities were flying flags at half-staff, and the October Council, a group of survivors and bereaved families, planned a nationwide minute of silence at noon. The main evening ceremony, organized by the Kumu (“Rise Up”) movement of survivors and victims’ families, was scheduled for 9:15 p.m. in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, with tens of thousands expected to attend. Kumu’s event has stood in place of an official state ceremony for the past two years and is broadcast on most of Israel’s main television channels, The Times of Israel said. One of this year’s hosts is former hostage Eli Sharabi, whose wife and two daughters were killed at their home in Kibbutz Be’eri.

For the first time, the Nova community is also holding its own ceremony at Re’im on the same evening, beginning at 6:29 p.m. to mirror the time of the attack. “We’re returning to the place where everything stopped,” said Reef Peretz, chief executive of the Nova Tribe Community Association. “The survivors will be there, and the bereaved, and all the hostages have returned. It’s the first time we’re all together since October 7.” Peretz said the circle of Nova survivors and bereaved now extends to some 15,000 people. Eleven of the 20 living hostages freed last October had been taken from the festival, and Nova survivor and Eurovision 2025 contestant Yuval Raphael was to sing at Re’im.

Israel’s official state ceremonies took place on Monday, the Hebrew calendar date of the attack, at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his speeches to warn Israel’s enemies, The Times of Israel reported. “Everyone who was involved in the attack against us, everyone who held our hostages, is living on borrowed time,” he said. He also said Israel had brought back “every single one” of the 251 hostages, a claim many hostages’ families took issue with, saying the government missed earlier chances to free captives. During one speech, a bereaved father shouted at him: “You didn’t protect my son on October 7.”

How the failures of that day should be investigated has divided Israeli politics. Netanyahu has rejected widespread calls for a state commission of inquiry, the country’s highest investigative authority, in favour of a politically led probe, according to The Times of Israel. President Isaac Herzog urged an investigation “with determination and courage, and without bias,” without explicitly calling for a state commission, while Opposition Leader Yair Lapid stayed away from the state ceremonies. Survivors’ groups including the October Council and Kumu have repeatedly demanded a state commission, CNN reported. “Everyone who had their hand on the wheel, those in uniforms and suits alike — must go home,” wrote Shir Mathias, whose parents were killed at Kibbutz Holit.

The anniversary falls less than three weeks before Israel’s Oct. 27 election, in which accountability has become a central campaign issue, CNN said. Netanyahu’s rivals have sharpened their criticism after a string of media reports alleging that Israel received preliminary warnings from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt before the attack. “This is a very deep failure,” said former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, who is polling as Netanyahu’s main challenger and whose son was killed in Gaza. Eisenkot and former prime minister Naftali Bennett planned to spend the day visiting communities along the Gaza border.

The war that followed the attack continues to shape the region. More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since it began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the strip, CNN reported, and Israel carries out near-daily strikes there despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreed a year ago that has since stalled. Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, 2025, Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded more than 1,400 Palestinians killed and 4,880 injured, HuffPost reported, adding that Israel controls about 70 per cent of the strip and that, as of Sept. 20, the United Nations said 94 per cent of Gaza’s population was in urgent need of shelter and basic household assistance.

Jewish communities around the world are holding memorial events, while groups abroad opposed to Israel planned protests and rallies, The Times of Israel said. In Toronto, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and community partners scheduled a commemoration titled “7 October: Together, Three Years Later” from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., saying this year’s gathering comes “with the relief of knowing there are no more hostages.” Canadians were among the dead. The Globe and Mail reported last year that they included Judih Weinstein Haggai, a retired teacher from Toronto who was killed near Kibbutz Nir Oz along with her husband, Gad Haggai, and Adi Vital-Kaploun, a dual Israeli-Canadian citizen.

Sources: CNN; The Times of Israel (live blog, Oct. 7, 2026); The Times of Israel (Nova and Kumu ceremonies); The Times of Israel (state ceremonies, Oct. 5, 2026); HuffPost; Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs; The Globe and Mail (Oct. 7, 2025).