Israel celebrates Memorial Day, an annual solemn day, which takes on even more significance this year in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and the war it sparked.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial service for Israel’s war dead on Monday at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, site of the National Military Cemetery, and gave a speech at a memorial service for Israel’s terrorist victims.
National Day of Mourning officially began at sunset on Sunday. Around 8 p.m., a one-minute siren sounded across the country, stopping pedestrians on the streets and traffic at a standstill.
Memorial services will be held at schools, hospitals and communities until Monday afternoon. Bereaved families traditionally spend a day visiting the graves of their loved ones.
Even in normal years, commemorations in memory of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks are sacred in the small nation of Israel, where many people know that someone has been killed or injured as a result of Israel’s war with its neighbor. be. But this year’s commemoration will mark the start of an international crisis brought on by the war it launched in response to the country’s struggle to recover from the trauma of the October 7 Hamas-led attack, the deadliest in Israel’s history. It takes place in the face of increasing isolation.
According to Israeli authorities, about 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage on October 7th. According to the Israeli military, 272 soldiers have been killed and 1,660 wounded since Israel launched a ground invasion against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
At a ceremony in Jerusalem’s Western Wall square, army chief of staff Lieutenant General Helzi Halevi said he was responsible for the military’s failures that day. He also expressed gratitude to the families of soldiers who died in the ensuing seven months of combat.
“I stand humbly before your courage to endure pain, gather strength every day despite great loss, and fill the void with meaning.”
The actions of the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,000 people have been killed, according to local health authorities, have drawn the attention of the international community. However, the gaze of many Israelis remains primarily domestic, with the victims of the attacks and those taken hostage at the center of the national conversation.
Eyal Brandeis, from Kibbutz Sufa near the Gaza border, said he planned on Monday to visit the graves of two friends killed in the Oct. 7 attack. After the attack, his community was evacuated to the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, but seven months later he still hasn’t returned home.
“This year, it’s a lot closer for everyone. “We lost a close friend,” said Brandeis, 60. “Memorial Day is always special in Israel, but this year it will be even more special.”
This day is especially difficult for Israelis whose loved ones are still in Gaza. Israeli officials say Hamas and other armed groups still hold more than 130 people alive and dead hostage, and negotiations to secure their release have stalled.
Bar Goren’s father, Abner, 56, was killed during a Hamas-led attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz. His mother Maya is presumed dead and her body remains among those detained in Gaza.
“We don’t have our mother’s grave to visit and grieve. And for me, as long as there’s an open space next to my father’s, I don’t feel comfortable going to my father’s grave in Nir Oz, where she should be.” I can’t stand it,” said Goren, 23.
Memorial Day observances will conclude on Monday night, and Israel will move on to its 76th Independence Day celebrations.
However, Renana Gome, also from Nir Oz, said she did not plan to participate in this year’s festival. Her two children, Yagir and Orr, were taken hostage on October 7 and held in Gaza for several weeks. They were released during a week-long ceasefire in late November, but Israeli authorities say the body of Gome’s ex-husband, Yair, is still being held by Palestinian militants in the enclave.
“We cannot celebrate independence as long as more than 132 hostages, dead or alive, are being held,” Gomé said. “Please keep the national flag at half-mast.”
Jonathan Rees Contributed to the report.