Israel Marks Third Anniversary of October 7 Attacks Amid Calls for a National Inquiry

A community still rebuilding

Israel marked the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks this week, a date that falls just weeks before the country's national election on October 27. The original attacks killed roughly 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage, triggering the war in Gaza that has continued since.

For residents near the Gaza border, the anniversary is both personal and ongoing. Danny Rahamim, who has lived at Kibbutz Nahal Oz since 1975, roughly 800 meters from the Gaza fence, got a sunflower tattoo reading "the way to hope" in the aftermath. His community lost 15 people killed and 8 taken hostage on October 7, and about 85 percent of its roughly 450 pre-war residents have since returned. "I'm on the side that keeps the hope," he said. "Why? Because if you lost your hope, nothing will change."

Pressure for an inquiry

The anniversary has reignited pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over reports that he was warned of a looming Hamas attack years in advance and failed to act on the intelligence. Netanyahu denies the claims and has launched legal action against the outlets that published them.

A cross-section of opposition figures, including Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman, are demanding a formal state inquiry into the failures that preceded the attack. Netanyahu has so far refused to authorize one.

Among those pushing hardest is Mali Zender, whose daughter Noa was killed at the Nova music festival, where 378 people died and 44 were taken hostage that day. "We are a very strong army, a strong country," she said. "How did this happen?"

A war with no clear end

The war that followed has reshaped the region. More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, and a United Nations commission has twice found evidence of genocide, a conclusion Israel's government rejects as politically motivated.

With an election now weeks away, the question of accountability for October 7 looks set to remain one of the defining issues of the campaign, even as communities like Nahal Oz continue the slower, quieter work of rebuilding.