Israel remembers October 7 as conflict in the Middle East rages on

Remembrance events were held across Israel on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, as ITV News' John Irvine, John Ray and Emma Murphy report

Vigils, rallies and memorial events were held in Israel and around the world on Monday, to mark one year since the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The assault, which saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and 251 civilians taken hostage, led to intense military retaliation by Israel and escalating tensions across the Middle East.

Its aftershocks are still apparent one year later. As well as the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is now fighting a new war against Hezbollah.

On Monday, both of those groups made their presence felt.

Hamas launched rockets that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, as well as closer to the Gaza border.

There were also reports that Hezbollah rockets had hit Israel's third-largest city, Haifa, early on Monday causing injuries but no deaths.

Meanwhile, Israel went ahead with its planned commemorations, which included a state ceremony at Mount Herzl to remember fallen soldiers and the civilian lives lost.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first public appearance on Monday was a visit to a memorial in Jerusalem for civilians and soldiers who died on October 7.

“We remember our fallen, our hostages - whom we are obliged to bring home - and our heroes who fell for the defense of the homeland and the country,” Netanyahu said. “We went through a terrible massacre a year ago, and we stood up as a people, like lions.”

"We will end the war when we complete all the goals we have set," Netanyahu said later on Monday.

At 6.30am on Monday - the exact hour Hamas launched its attack - the families of those killed at the Nova music festival gathered at the site where almost 400 civilians were gunned down or taken hostage.

After briefly playing the same trance music that was blared during the festival, hundreds of family members and friends of the victims stood for a moment of silence.

Remembrance ceremonies were also scheduled in Ofakim, Sderot, and Nir Oz, as well as at several other kibbutz sites that were attacked that day.

The flags at the Israeli Knesset were lowered to half-staff and an official state ceremony focusing on acts of bravery and hope was due to be aired on Monday evening.

The ceremony was prerecorded without an audience, apparently to avoid potential disruptions.

Meanwhile, people gathered in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to use the anniversary to repeat their call for the release of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

Around 100 hostages are still being held captive in Gaza, though it is unclear how many are still alive.

Anger at the government's failure to prevent the attack and enduring frustration that it has not returned the remaining hostages prompted demonstrations.

Some protests were scaled back drastically over prohibitions on large gatherings, apparently due to the threat of missile attacks from Iran and Hezbollah.

Among the hostages who were taken a year ago was 28-year-old British woman Emily Damari. Her family has criticised the government for not doing more to secure her release.

During a visit to a synagogue in London on Monday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the anniversary was a moment of "deep reflection and pain".

"And particularly we think of Emily Damari, the British hostage, and her family have no word of her fate or how she is doing," he said.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also marked the anniversary, describing October 7, 2023 as “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust” and said that “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since.

While reiterating calls for a ceasefire, Starmer said that the UK "must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community”.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, the prime minister described the situation as “a living nightmare", and said the deaths among innocent civilians in Gaza were "truly devastating".

Fifteen British citizens were killed a year ago today, while another has since died in captivity.

In a statement issued by the White House on Monday, US President Joe Biden recalled the "unspeakable brutality" of the attacks which had led to one year of "a devastating war".

He condemned the "vicious surge in antisemitism" that followed and paid tribute to the "indomitable spirit of the Jewish people."

"I believe that history will also remember October 7 as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day," he added.

"Far too many civilians have suffered far too much."

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In the days leading up to the anniversary, Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza, southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has its stronghold.

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired rockets into Israel on Monday without disrupting a nearby commemorative service.

The strikes followed attacks over the weekend, including a round of airstrikes that hit Beirut suburbs late on Sunday and a strike on a mosque in Gaza, which Palestinian officials say killed at least 19 people the same day.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 41,909 Palestinians and wounded 97,303 since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Monday.

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