Israel honors victims of Oct 7 Hamas attack on Hebrew date of massacre

The State of Israel on Sunday observed a National Day of Mourning for the terror attack on Oct. 7 last year, marking the Hebrew anniversary of the Hamas massacre in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed. Terrorists also kidnapped 251 Israelis and foreign nationals on what has come to be known in Israel as "Black Shabbat." 

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi addressed the Oct. 7 atrocities in a published letter.

"Today, we honor the memory of those who fell on the day the war broke out and throughout this year of fighting," Halevi said. "This has been a year of battles on multiple fronts, a year of struggle. The heinous attack of an enemy devoid of humanity exacted a heavy and painful price, yet we rose from the dust and persevered."

Halevi emphasized that the IDF was committed to fighting to restore national security and closing a deal for the release of the remaining 101 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, including four who were in captivity prior to Oct. 7, 2023.

"We fight without fear and without rest for our home, both national and personal – to restore security to all citizens of the country. We also fight for the return of the hostages – an urgent and vital war objective," the IDF chief said.

While noting Israel’s growing military success, he stressed the need to remember the failures that led to the Oct. 7 tragedy.

Halevi concluded his speech by honoring the IDF soldiers and security officials who sacrificed their lives to defend Israel.

"There are no wars without costs, and, unfortunately, the cost of the war for a people seeking freedom in its land is heavy. The heroic acts of the fallen and the wounded, both physically and mentally, have ensured our continued existence. It is our duty to complete the mission for them and act according to the values of dedication, courage, and commitment that guided them," Halevi stated.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog began his speech at the official memorial ceremony for fallen IDF soldiers by addressing Sunday’s terrorist ramming attack that wounded dozens of Israelis in Tel Aviv.

"At this moment, our hearts are with the dozens wounded and affected in the severe terror attack near the Glilot base. We pray and hope for their full and swift recovery and send strength to them and their families,” Herzog said.

The president lamented the loss of hundreds of IDF soldiers who fell while defending the State of Israel since the Oct. 7 massacre.

“Distinguished guests, it has been a full year that our lives have been shrouded in unceasing and heavy mourning for our sons and daughters who fell in battle – for the faces, the voices, and the names; for the entire worlds that were destroyed. A year, a whole year – since that accursed day – October 7th – Simchat Torah, when a cruel and murderous enemy rose against us in an attack wholly filled with barbaric crimes against humanity. This battle has claimed and continues to claim hundreds of lives from us, leaving thousands of bereaved families. But each of us, I feel, carries a few deeply unsettling, even crushing moments, etched into our hearts over this past year – moments that will never fade. I, too, have mine,” Herzog stated.

The president recounted the tragic moment when the family of Captain Roi Nahari asked him and his wife Michal to be with them as they said a painful goodbye to their loved one in the hospital.

“Around the hospital bed of Captain Roi Nahari – a platoon commander in the 202nd Paratroopers Battalion, a handsome young man, only 23 years old, from Moshav Ora – stood his parents and siblings, surrounding him like a halo."

Herzog continued: “Michal and I arrived at Soroka Hospital that day, only two days after the murderous attack by Hamas had begun. In the shock of the pain, as their heroic and beloved son hovered between life and death, dear Iris and Ronen, Roi's parents, asked us to be with them by his bedside in their most intimate, their most terrible family moment – their moment of parting from their beloved Roi.”