Israel holds nationwide memorials for Oct. 7 Hamas massacre victims

Israeli citizens from all walks of life attended nationwide memorials for the 1,400 victims - Israeli and foreign nationals - of the Oct. 7 massacre, when more than 2,000 Hamas terrorists invaded civilian communities in southern Israel.

The Israeli Defense Ministry hosted a commemoration ceremony at the National Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem for 394 soldiers, police officers and security personnel who have fallen in battle against Hamas terrorists since the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel.

Among the senior officials who attended the Wednesday memorial event in Jerusalem was the director general of the Israel Ministry of Defense, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor, the head of the IDF Manpower Directorate, and Commander Boaz Goldberg, head of the Israel Police Human Resources Division.

The traumatic event is the worst and most massive terror attack in the modern Jewish state’s 75-year history and claimed the largest number of Jewish lives since the Holocaust.

Many of the victims were liberal Israelis from kibbutzim who advocated peaceful coexistence with their Gazan neighbors.

In addition, Hamas terrorists deliberately planned and carried out the massacre of ome 260 mostly-young Israelis attending a peaceful music festival that was being held close to the Gaza Strip border that weekend.

At least 240 Israeli and foreign nationals, including women, children, babies and elderly Holocaust survivors were kidnapped and brought to Gaza on that day, which Israel has renamed 'the black Sabbath.'

The hostages are currently held somewhere inside the Gaza Strip and their condition remains unknown.

On Tuesday, pro-Israel demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City and to demand the release of those being held captive by Hamas.

In late October, UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres caused controversy when he stated the Hamas terror attack did not happen in a vacuum, appearing to somehow blaming Israel for Hamas’s crimes against humanity.

At the demonstration in New York on Tuesday, some of the protesters held signs asking the UN chief what he would do if his family members were kidnapped by Hamas.: “Secretary Guterres, what if Hamas kidnapped your loved ones?”

While Israeli society currently finds itself united in the war against Hamas, many Israelis feel abandoned by the Netanyahu government, expressing their anger and frustration about the government's failure to protect its citizens from the Hamas missile attack and brutal invasion that morning.

One memorial for an Oct. 7 victim was held outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, with some participants demanding that Netanyahu step down as prime minister.

Hamas terrorists murdered the parents of Maoz Yinon – Bilha and Yaakov – in Netiv HaAsara, a village in southern Israel.

“I call on all of Israel to come and be with us, to join us on the journey of building new hope and equality,” Yinon urged the Israeli public.

The process of identifying the bodies from the massacre has proven complex and further challenged by the fact that many of the victims were badly burned.

Because the efforts have been time-consuming, Israeli authorities have so far only managed to clear the bodies of 736 civilians and 348 security personnel who fell during the massacre and ensuing battle against the Hamas terrorists.

Israeli archaeologists are currently assisting a team of Israel Defense Forces in identifying the human remains from the Israeli border communities.

Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Director Eli Escusido expressed hope that the expertise of the archaeology team would facilitate the identification of the many badly burned remains of victims.

“Taking into account all the difficulty and the emotional challenges involved, our hope is that we can contribute to the certain identification for as many as possible families, Escusido said.