Israelis mourn 7 October attack victims three years after deadly Hamas raid

Memorial events have taken place in Israel on the third anniversary of the devastating Hamas-led attack there that sparked the war in Gaza.

Families paid tribute to their loved ones at some of the sites where about 1,200 people were killed in the assault and 251 were taken hostage.

"The nation unites on this day in the longing for our dear ones," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faced calls from protesters for an independent state inquiry into security failures that day.

In response to the attack, Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza which has killed more than 74,200 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen as reliable by the UN.

Residents of kibbutz destroyed in 7 October Hamas-led attacks grapple with how to rebuild

Violence has continued in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreed almost a year ago and living conditions for the 2.1 million people living there remain dire.

On Wednesday morning, bereaved families and survivors gathered at a memorial for the 378 people who were killed at the Nova dance festival in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The festival site was near Kibbutz Re'im and not far from the border with Gaza, from where Hamas-led gunmen launched their dawn attack.

Witnesses have described how festival-goers were shot, sexually abused and tortured by gunmen during the raid.

Forty-four people were kidnapped, of whom 25 were brought back from Gaza alive.

Ahuva Yavin Mayze, whose 21-year-old daughter Adi was shot and killed at Nova, told the BBC what happened at the site was "dystopic, unimaginable".

"Today is a difficult day, not only for me but for a large part of the nation," said Shlomo Sharf, a former Israeli footballer, in comments reported by Channel 12.

He paid tribute to his granddaughter, May Naim, 24, who was also killed at the festival.

Former hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and later killed in captivity in Gaza, was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying: "Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. Sorry. Sorry that you are up there and I am here."

Crowds also filed into the small cemetery at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 residents were killed and 19 were taken hostage on 7 October.

Zion Regev, a community leader, said most surviving residents had yet to return to their homes because of the trauma of what happened.

"This is the first time we are doing all the things here in the kibbutz," he told Reuters news agency. "It's a very emotional day, it's a very difficult day for our community, three years after 7 October."

A man who reportedly helped to fend off Hamas attackers at Kibbutz Magen praised IDF troops who "fought so bravely" during the raid.

Speaking to crowds at the national memorial event at Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park on Wednesday evening, Ido Yakir said Israel would remember everyone "who knew that they had to give their lives in order to save others".

In a statement released by his office on Wednesday afternoon, Netanyahu said he had lit a memorial candle commemorating every victim of 7 October.

"We will complete the mission: we have settled the score and will continue settling the score with all the murderers," he added.

At a ceremony on Monday marking the Jewish calendar's anniversary of the attack, the prime minister said Israel had killed 4,000 out of the 6,000 Palestinians who infiltrated Israel from Gaza that day.

In Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square, Israeli anti-government protesters dyed the fountain red to mark the anniversary of the attack.

The fountain has been used as a memorial site for those killed, with pictures, flowers and messages laid around the basin wall.

Protesters also briefly blocked one of the main highways in the city to hold a moment of silence on Wednesday morning.

They held banners that read, "the people will remember their sons and daughters", along with others that said "a complete failure" and "guilty" next to an image of Netanyahu.

Many senior Israeli defence and security officials have resigned or been fired since the attack took place. But there has not been an independent commission of inquiry into Israel's worst security failure.

The prime minister has rejected any personal responsibility and has refused to establish a state inquiry led by Israel's Supreme Court, arguing recently that the country's judiciary would be biased against him.

Einav Zangauker became an outspoken critic of the Netanyahu government while her son, Matan, was in captivity in Gaza. He was released last October as part of the ceasefire agreement.