Israel marks third anniversary of October 7 attack as Gaza strikes continue amid election focus

Israel marked the third anniversary of Hamass October 7 attack on Wednesday with silent tributes new strikes on Gaza and intense political debate weeks before elections in which the countrys deadliest day will be front and centreAt the site of the Nova music festival where Hamas militants in trucks and paragliders opened fire around dawn on October 7 2023 family members bowed their heads in silence although at least one instead put on techno music in tribute to the fallenBoth at Nova and the Kfar Aza kibbutz another site of mass killings three years earlier AFP reporters heard loud bangs from across the border in Gaza during the commemorations as Israel carried out new strikes despite a ceasefire officially in place for the past yearGaza officials said at least two people were killed in overnight strikes in the territory most of which has been reduced to rubble in relentless bombing in retaliation for the worst attack ever against IsraelAt the Nova site Katia Zohar whose daughter Bar Zohar was killed at age 23 called the start of the attack at 629 am 0329 GMT the minute that changed our lives foreverSadly I remember everything Zohar said The moment she called for me to come and pick her up because there were missiles in the air Then the second time when she called from the road screaming that they were shooting at herAnna Davitashvili 53 paid tribute to her eldest son Shaun who was killed at 25 at Nova alongside friends by playing the last track of techno music that the partygoers were dancing to when the attack beganI feel him here Im terribly sorry that I couldnt save him I couldnt help him get out of this massacre she said tears filling up her eyesEye on electionOn October 27 Israel will hold elections for the first time since the attack with polls showing a tight race for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who in three years has ordered the massive offensive in Gaza and fought wars against Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as Iran whose clericrun government backs HamasAt the Nova site Naftali Bennett a former prime minister seeking to oust Netanyahu told reporters of the attack This was a colossal failure of the state of Israel which was established to defend Jews in our landThe centreleft Democrats Party put online footage of the attack without commentaryA government that for three years has not destroyed Hamass rule is a government dangerous to Israel Democrats leader Yair Golan saidNetanyahu marked October 7 with official ceremonies in Jerusalem on Monday which was closer to the anniversary on the Jewish calendarHe said there would be no forgiveness for the murderers and vowed never to allow rule in Gaza by Hamas which has faced major losses but remains in control of part of the territoryShock to Israeli psycheOctober 7 delivered a deep shock to the psyche of Israel which has prided itself on protecting its borders despite long oddsIsraelis had a more triumphant narrative last week when passengers helped foil an attack by the copilot of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv although questions were soon raised on why he was allowed to flyOn October 7 Palestinian fighters breached the border storming southern Israel with gunfire rockets and grenadesA total of 1221 people died according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figuresMilitants also dragged 251 hostages into Gaza 44 of them already deadThe last live hostages were freed a year ago as part of a USbrokered ceasefire deal in which Hamas stopped firing into Israel Israeli attacks have subsided but not stopped with Netanyahu vowing to kill anyone involved in the attackIsraels military offensive has displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza and killed more than 74200 people according to Gazas health ministry which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United NationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever