Israel awoke Wednesday to memorial ceremonies, roadside demonstrations and protest installations marking three years since the Oct. 7 massacre, with events beginning at 6:29 a.m., the exact time the Hamas-led assault began.
Families of those killed and abducted, survivors and protesters gathered across the country, combining remembrance with renewed demands for accountability and an investigation into the failures that preceded the attack.
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Three years since the Oct. 7 massacre, at the Nova festival site
(Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
At the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, lit a memorial candle at exactly 6:29. The presidency said the ceremony reflected the country’s shared grief for civilians and soldiers killed in the massacre and the war, while honoring the wounded, returned hostages and their families.
Demonstrators outside Knesset
At the same hour, families of victims and hostages gathered outside the Knesset alongside burned-out vehicles from the Nova music festival, observing a minute of silence and displaying signs accusing the government of abandoning those attacked.
Protesters briefly block Ayalon Highway
(Photo: Ofer Meriash)
In Tel Aviv, protesters briefly blocked the Ayalon Highway at 6:29 and unfurled a banner reading, ‘The people will remember their sons and daughters.’ Organizers said they were demanding a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Oct. 7. Dizengoff Square was also transformed by a protest installation, while at Trumpeldor Beach rows of human figures laid across the sand represented those murdered and abducted.
Dizengoff Square fountain dyed red at 6:29 a.m. to mark three years since the Oct. 7 massacre
Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni, an IDF surveillance soldier, was killed at the Nahal Oz base, stood at the installation and said: ‘Three years have passed, and I continue to raise you.’
Kfar Aza
(Photo: AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
In Kfar Aza, one of the communities devastated in the attack, residents gathered at 6:29 near the armory from which members of the kibbutz security team went out to fight Hamas terrorists. The Israeli flag was lowered to half-staff as widows of seven members of the security team who were killed stood alongside survivors of the fighting. At the Nova festival site near Re’im, bereaved families and survivors returned to the place where hundreds were murdered, embracing beside photographs of those killed.
(Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protests and memorial events also spread to intersections and bridges around the country. Ceremonies were held outside the homes of government ministers who were serving on Oct. 7, with the names of hostages murdered in captivity read outside Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s home. Demonstrators outside Education Minister Yoav Kisch’s home carried signs reading, ‘7/10, no forgiveness,’ while a banner outside Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s home declared, ‘Until they go, we are all hostages.’
Preparations for the Oct. 7 convoy from Caesarea to Tel Aviv
(Photo: Shani Tamim)
A convoy of dozens of vehicles also set out from Caesarea toward Tel Aviv. Ayala Metzger, whose father-in-law Yoram Metzger was abducted and later murdered in Hamas captivity, said the participants had come ‘to remember, to remind and to demand’ that the failures be investigated and that those who led the government at the time take responsibility.
The day’s events are set to continue nationwide, with memorials and demonstrations planned at some 400 locations. At noon, the October Council plans a nationwide minute of silence at hundreds of sites. At the same time, an exhibition titled ‘The Space Left Behind’ is scheduled to open at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa, displaying personal belongings of dozens of people murdered on Oct. 7, accompanied by a ceremony with bereaved families.
'7.10 is a massacre, do not deny'
(Photo: Orna Koperman)
Demonstrations involving protest groups and October Council families are planned throughout the afternoon and evening in Haifa, Afula, Tzemach Junction, Rosh Pina Junction, Sde Boker and other locations. At 6:29 p.m., exactly 12 hours after the morning commemorations began, bereaved families and members of the Nova Tribe association are scheduled to hold a ceremony at the Nova site near Re’im. A public testimony stage will open at 7:30 p.m. at the Arches Junction in the Sha’ar HaNegev region.
The day is expected to culminate at 9:15 p.m. with a national memorial ceremony at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park organized by the Kumu movement and Oct. 7 families. The ceremony, which will also be screened at locations across Israel, is to be hosted by former hostage Eli Sharabi and actress Shani Cohen.