Worldwide Ceremonies, Protests, Prayers, Rockets Highlight Oct. 7 Anniversary as War to Intensify
JERUSALEM, Israel – Ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the October 7th massacre were held throughout Israel, in the U.S., and around the world, as Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and Israel strikes back.
Two U.S. senators came for the anniversary to tell Israelis they are not alone.
Israel’s official commemoration of October 7th took place in Ofakim near Gaza, a place hit especially hard by the Hamas terror attack.
Israelis lit a flame in front of burned-out cars from the massacre as “Hatikvah,” (The Hope), the national anthem, played.
President Isaac Herzog recalled, “Until my last day, I will be haunted by the smell of burnt bodies and the sight of pools of blood, alongside family photos and children’s books.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to fight.”
Earlier, families of hostages, those killed on October 7th, and soldiers who died fighting Hamas held a separate ceremony in Tel Aviv with a very small audience, due to the security situation.
Shortly before the ceremony, Yemen fired a surface-to-surface missile and drones toward Tel Aviv but they were intercepted in the skies over the city.
Hezbollah launched some 190 projectiles at northern Israel on Monday, and in Lebanon, Israeli jets took the offensive from Beirut on the Mediterranean to Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, hitting 120 Hezbollah targets in just one hour.
The terror group’s acting leader claims more Israelis will be displaced as the Iranian proxy expands its rocket fire deeper into Israel.
Remembrances and protests were held around the world Monday to mark the anniversary.
In Washington, President and Mrs. Biden lit candles as Rabbi Aaron Alexander of the Adas Israel Congregation prayed for those who died.
“May you shelter them in the shadow of your wings forever and may their souls be bound up in the bond of everlasting life,” he prayed.
Former President Donald Trump paid tribute to those killed in the October 7 attack. Speaking Monday at a remembrance event at his Doral golf resort in Miami, Trump told the gathering that the threat of Hurricane Milton didn’t keep him away.
“October 7th was not just the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It was not just the worst terror attack since 9/11. It was an attack on humanity itself. It was a hideous, incredible cruelty. It was chilling savagery. It was demonic delight and the destruction of innocent life,” Trump declared, and added, “On October 7th, it seemed as if the gates of hell had sprung open and unleashed their horrors onto the world. And that’s exactly what happened.“
On the Washington Mall, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance addressed a pro-Israel rally, telling the crowd, “We want to give Israel the right and the ability to finish what Hamas started. Israel didn’t start this. Hamas did. But Israel is going to finish it.”
The State Department pointed out that Hamas’ brazen assault not only took Israeli lives but caused great agony for its own people in Gaza.
“Hamas’s attacks on October 7th launched a war that continues today with tragic consequences for the Palestinian people,” said spokesman Matthew Miller.
A Philadelphia museum featured an exhibit remembering the massive Hamas attack on the Nova Music Festival, where so many young people were slaughtered.
Not everyone was mourning the victims of October 7th. In Yemen, Iranian-backed Houthis waved their rifles, and in Pakistan, demonstrators burned Israeli and American flags.
Back in Israel, two visiting U.S. Senators told Prime Minister Netanyahu the Jewish nation still has America’s full backing. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R- South Carolina) took a swipe at France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, stated that all nations should consider embargoing arms to Israel.
Graham advised Macron, “You should be doubling down on helping Israel because the people that want to destroy Israel also want to destroy the French people. And they would kill all of us if they could. If Iran ever got a nuclear weapon, they would use it.”
For years, Netanyahu has pledged Israel will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons that could wipe out Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
“Unlike the Holocaust, we fight back and we’re fighting like lions, with the support of the American government, the American people,” Netanyahu said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) spoke of October 7th, calling it “An absolutely abhorrent, inhumane attack on the Jewish people.” He added, “And we’re here to say we have Israel’s back and Israel has a right to defend itself.”
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