World
IDF chief marks 1,000 days since Oct. 7 attack ‘on very existence of Jewish people’
Marking 1,000 days of fighting since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Monday the military is at a “strategic crossroads in the war.”
Zamir spoke during an assessment summit with senior officers. The event opened with a minute of silence in memory of those who fell on October 7 when Hamas led thousands of terrorists in an invasion of southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas attack triggered a war in Gaza that spilled over to several other fronts, after Israel came under attack from the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen, both of which are sponsored by Iran. Israel also went to war with Iran, alongside the US.
“Today we are holding a multi-arena operational, intelligence, and strategic assessment, marking 1,000 days of combat. These days, we find ourselves at a significant and strategic crossroads in this war,” Zamir said in remarks published by the military.
“This war has changed methods of warfare, operational concepts, and the way we operate. We remember, we learn, and we prepare for the continuation of the combat and the many challenges that lie ahead,” he added.
October 7 was, Zamir said, “an attack on the very existence of the Jewish people.”
“That memory requires us to continue to change, to draw and assimilate lessons in the regional learning race,” he said.
Though fighting has largely been halted on all fronts, none of the conflicts have ended with a permanent ceasefire, and sporadic clashes continue to threaten an outbreak of further fighting.
The actual 1,000-day milestone since October 7, 2023, falls on Thursday. It will be marked around the country with unofficial memorials as well as events protesting the government’s failure to prevent the Hamas attack and its handling of the war in Gaza and the efforts to return the hostages. All of the captives were eventually brought back, though many died in Gaza and some of the survivors spent over two years in captivity.
Demonstrations are planned in some 50 locations around the country, Channel 13 reported. Some events are scheduled to begin at 6.29 a.m., the hour when Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets at the country, followed by its invasion of southern Israel.
At 8 a.m., there will be an event at the Re’im parking lot at the site of the ill-fated Nova music festival, where Hamas gunmen slaughtered 361 revelers amid brutal acts of torture and sexual assault.
Bereaved families from October 7, families of fallen soldiers and former hostages have called for Israelis, whether at home, work, or in public spaces, to observe a minute of silence at 10 a.m.
At midday, an event will take place at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, which was a focal point of support rallies for captives while they were held in Gaza.
At 5 p.m., a protest is planned outside the Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv.
Another event in Hostages Square, scheduled for 6 p.m., will include bereaved families telling stories of their slain loved ones.
Evening protests are planned at many locations across the country, including a main rally, also at Hostages Square, to start at 8 p.m., with addresses from families of those killed on October 7 and during the ensuing war, as well as from former hostages.
