Israel marks third anniversary of October 7 atrocity, with tearful mourners gathered at Nova festival site and across the nation

Israelis gathered Wednesday to commemorate the October 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people, saw 251 taken hostage, and sparked a war in Gaza that has devastated the territory and left its 2 million people living in dire conditions.

In southern Israel, families mourned at intersections, bomb shelters, and the site of a music festival that Hamas-led militants overran three years ago in the deadliest attack against Israel. 

It is the first anniversary that all the hostages are home, marking a new stage of grief.

At a portrait of Yevgeni Postel, a 25-year-old student, his mother laid a bouquet of flowers and broke down sobbing.

'These are our heroes; the greatest children of Israel,' said one police officer as he looked at portraits of his fallen colleagues.

At the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which was also devastated by the attack, mourners sat in silence in assembled chairs as they watched the raising of an Israeli flag.

For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of life of misery and difficulties after an Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people. 

Most of the population of about 2 million people live in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip's cities reduced to rubble. 

People mark the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel at the site of the Nova music festival

Israeli soldiers and civilians mark the third anniversary of October 7, 2023

Family members mourn and pay their respects while visiting the Nova festival memorial site

More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military, and despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.

For the region, the day highlights a startling transformation over the past three years.

Israeli troops occupy a large chunk of southern Lebanon in their conflict with Hezbollah, which began firing on Israel in 2023 in support of Hamas. 

Iran and the United States are locked in a confrontation that has seen attacks across Arab Gulf countries and has shaken the global economy - a conflict that Israel helped launch and that the Gaza war paved the way for even if they weren't directly connected.

Elkana Bohbot, 37, is marking the anniversary in Israel for the first time, after being released from 738 days of captivity last year. 

For most of that time, he said, he was held 50 meters (165 feet) underground in a dark, damp tunnel.

Bohbot, who was abducted from the Nova music festival, was kept in a small cell with other hostages, given very little food, and allowed to bathe only every few weeks, he said. 

His captors forced him to take part in several propaganda videos, including one where he acts out a fake call to his family.

In the 11 months since his release, Bohbot has undergone physical and emotional rehabilitation, written a book, begun a speaking career, traveled with his family, and celebrated all the holidays and birthdays he missed.

In August, his wife, Rivka, gave birth to a daughter, fulfilling a fierce promise that Bohbot made to himself in the tunnels to give his 5-year-old son, Reem, a sibling.

The newborn Michele is 'not a symbol for my people, she is more of a symbol for the enemy,' Bohbot said. 'So this child is the message for you that we were here, and we will always be here forever.'

An Israeli soldier crouches to light a candle at the memorial to the victims of the 2023 Hamas attacks

Relatives attend a memorial service marking the third anniversary of October 7, 2023

The family of Lior Tkach cries while visiting his memorial plaque and photo at the Nova festival memorial

An Israeli soldier attends a memorial service marking the third anniversary of October 7, 2023

A man prays by a roadside bomb shelter on the third anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led October 7 2023 attack

Israeli soldiers light a memorial candle beside a commemorative marker at the Nova music festival site

No events are expected on Wednesday in Gaza, where Israel's offensive has devastated the narrow strip and displaced around 90 per cent of its population, often multiple times. 

Restrictions on the entry of goods and aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says around half were women and children. 

The numbers from the ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

While a ceasefire that took effect on October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued, targeting what Israel says are Hamas militants. 

Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the ministry. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period.

The separate commemorations are indicative of the deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war and his reluctance to launch an official inquiry into failings of the day.

 Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister who has denounced Netanyahu for not preventing the attack, joined mourners at Nova to remember the attack by the 'monsters' three years ago.

'This was a colossal failure of the state of Israel, which was established to defend Jews in our land,' Bennett told reporters.

'But during those minutes, young men and women from all across Israel came over to fight and protect and save lives of their brothers and sisters and a generation of heroes emerged. And we owe it to this amazing generation to rebuild our country - to be stronger, better,' he said.

Netanyahu marked October 7 with official ceremonies in Jerusalem on Monday, which was closer to the anniversary on the Jewish calendar.

He vowed 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 territory.

Family members visit the Nova festival memorial site in the early morning

Family members of the soldiers from the observatory unit of  the IDF mourn

A woman rests against outdoor bomb shelter walls near 'Am Israel Chai' graffiti at the Nova festival memorial site

The sun rises over the Nova festival memorial site as people come to pay their respects

Today's events will be held under heightened security measures, three weeks from Israel's general elections and one week after a foiled attack on a Tel Aviv-bound passenger plane.

Israel's defence minister said Tuesday he had put the military on high alert 'in light of intelligence regarding Hamas's intentions to attempt to carry out attacks' against troops in Gaza on the anniversary.

The October 7 attack set in motion a cascade of events that led to wars across the Middle East as Israel confronted Hamas, Hezbollah and their backer Iran. 

Israel has seized swaths of territory in Syria and Lebanon, where more than 300,000 Lebanese remain displaced. 

The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran's military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield.

Violence has also risen across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israel's far-right government has emboldened extremist settlers who have attacked Palestinians and destroyed their property.

Both at Nova and the Kfar Aza kibbutz, another site of mass killings three years earlier, loud bangs were heard from across the border in Gaza during the commemorations as Israel carried out new strikes, despite a ceasefire officially in place for the past year.

Gaza officials said at least two people were killed in overnight strikes in the territory.

On October 27, Israel will hold elections for the first time since the attack with polls showing a tight race for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who in three years has ordered the massive offensive in Gaza as well as in Lebanon and Iran, whose cleric-run government backs Hamas.