Israel marks three years since 7 October attack by Hamas – live
1,200 died in attack that led to launch of devastating war in Gaza ‘All I want to do is cry’: trauma of 7 October survivors three years after the attacks Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said he had put the military on high alert yesterday, a day before the third anniversary of the 7 October attack. Without providing evidence, his office said the instruction came “in light of intelligence r
From 2h agoKeith Siegel spent many of his long hours in Hamas captivity in Gaza etching everything that happened after 7 October 2023 into his memory. For 484 days, he recited to himself every place he was held, the dates he was moved and every attack or humiliation he endured or witnessed.Keith Siegel and his wife, Aviva, were among 251 people taken captive to Gaza during the 7 October attacks on 7 October.
Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The GuardianHe aimed to store intelligence that could help Israeli forces free other hostages if he was released, to keep track of time as the days slid by and be able to tell his family what happened to him. Now his body is free, but he cannot loosen those memories.“I’m living a kind of dual life,” he said in an interview in Tel Aviv.
“I’m here for some of the time, and I’m in Gaza some of time. It’s very challenging to convey in words what it was like.”Siegel and his wife, Aviva, were among 251 people taken captive to Gaza on the deadliest day in Israel’s history, when Hamas militants broke across the border to launch a wave of attacks on kibbutzim, border towns, military bases and music festivals.
“What happened to me in Gaza, what happened with Keith in Gaza, it’s there all the time,” said Aviva.“I understand that it’s going to be a process of healing. There’s always things that remind me, and if I don’t remember, then he reminds me.
If I’m cooking lunch or making a cup of tea and I turn around and see Keith with tears in his eyes, because he just read something or let himself feel.”Read more:‘All I want to do is cry’: trauma of 7 October survivors three years after the attacksRead moreKey events22m agoIsrael puts military on high alert for 7 October attack anniversary2h ago‘All I want to do is cry’: trauma of 7 October survivors three years after the attacks2h agoIsrael marks three years since 7 October attack by HamasIsrael’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said he had put the military on high alert yesterday, a day before the third anniversary of the 7 October attack.
Without providing evidence, his office said the instruction came “in light of intelligence regarding Hamas’s intentions to attempt to carry out attacks and terror operations against our forces in Gaza on that day”.“If, heaven forbid, our forces are harmed, the ones who will pay the heavy price will be Hamas and the population of Gaza – beyond all proportion,” the statement added.Israel Katz, Israel's defence minister.
Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/ReutersBenjamin Netanyahu has contended that Israeli security chiefs collectively failed to foresee the surprise Hamas attack three years ago, while his critics argue that the Israeli prime minister, who has resisted an independent public inquiry into what happened, should personally answer for the security failures.Israeli citizens will have their first chance since the deadly attack to pass judgment on Netanyahu, who is seeking an unprecedented seventh term, in the crucial general election on 27 October.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of the 7 October attack on Monday. Photograph: Debbie Hill/ReutersA new book by Haaretz reporters suggests Netanyahu was personally alerted by the UAE president that Hamas was planning a large-scale offensive against Israel a week before the attack, but failed to act on the warning.The Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Peter Beaumont, has more details in this story:
double quotation markThe claim, which comes amid a crucial election campaign, prompted Israeli opposition leaders to describe the prime minister as “unfit” for office, even as Netanyahu denounced the report as an “absolute lie” and denied he spoke to the Emirati leader at that time.
Haaretz said the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, later killed by Israel, had warned a former Palestinian official that the militants were preparing “a terrifying operation” which he described as an “earthquake”.
According to the report, the UAE president, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, spoke to Netanyahu a week and a half before the attack, and told him Hamas was planning a major operation.
