Gaza Genocideupdated 46m ago2 min read
Hamas October 7 Attack Anniversary Marks Gaza War, Israeli Strikes, Hostage Aftermath
About 1,200 Israelis killed and 251 hostages abducted on Oct 7, 2023. Gaza death toll exceeds 74,000 according to Gaza Health Ministry.
Anniversary, death toll, hostages
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel left about 1,200 people killed and 251 abducted and taken to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities, and the war that began afterward has left more than 74,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. DW said more than a third of Israelis have shown symptoms of mental health disorders, according to a report, in the years after the October 7 attacks.
OCHA estimates that 82% of Gaza’s structures have sustained damage, and these objectives remain stalled, with Israel maintaining control of about two-thirds of the Strip and rejecting fully withdrawing its forces while Hamas has not disarmed. The latest hostages were released under the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, but many still suffer the psychological consequences of captivity, and Reuters gathered testimonies of former hostages including Emily Damari, Eli Sharabi, Aviva Siegel, and Keith Siegel.
Israel’s pursuit and Gaza’s reality
Israel created a database of thousands of people who, according to its intelligence services, participated in the October 7 attack, and identification was coordinated largely by Nili, a joint unit of the Israeli army and Shin Bet created specifically to pursue participants in the attack. Investigators reconstructed the attackers’ movements from videos and photos from October 7, facial recognition, and intercepted communications, and a person would only be added to the database when there is at least two pieces of evidence placing them at the scene.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said about 4,000 of the 6,000 militants Israel estimates entered the country on October 7 have already been killed, and this would leave about 2,000 participants still alive. El País quoted Anwar al Shtat describing how he blamed Arab countries and Palestinian factions outside Gaza for inaction, and he said, "The whole world sees how we live and, yet, it stays idly by."
Elections, stalled plans, ongoing war
The October 27 elections will be the first since the attack and also a political trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with part of society demanding a state commission of inquiry into October 7. A survey from the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) published last September found that 75% of Israelis support a state commission of inquiry into October 7, and the same study detected a deep distrust between public opinion and political and military institutions.
The plan pushed by U.S. president Donald Trump envisioned disarming Hamas, a phased withdrawal of the Israeli army, a new Palestinian administration, and an international security force, but these objectives remain stalled. Israel maintains control of about two-thirds of the Strip and rejects fully withdrawing its forces while Hamas has not disarmed, and Hamas has shown willingness to hand over arms under international supervision but conditions the process on Israeli withdrawal and the existence of a Palestinian state.