Gaza health ministry reports 74,243 killed in war that followed
Mourners gathered at memorial sites across Israel on Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. About 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken captive to Gaza in the original assault, according to The Guardian.
At the Nova music festival site near Re’im, one of the locations where grieving relatives gathered on Wednesday, mourners placed posters bearing portraits of victims, according to images from photographer John Wessels distributed by AFP and Getty Images.
Israeli communities “shattered by the massacres” remain “torn between rebuilding their lives and remembering lost friends and relatives,” according to The Guardian. The paper’s correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, has been speaking with residents about their experiences on the day of the attack and in the days since.
Israel’s government responded to the attack by launching what The Guardian described as a “devastating war” on Gaza. The territory’s health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable, reported Wednesday that at least 74,243 people have been killed in the conflict that followed.
The Guardian said it is marking the day with a live blog featuring the latest images from events taking place in Israel and around the world. The third-anniversary observances come as the war in Gaza that followed the attack continues, three years on from the original Hamas assault.