October 7, 2024 Israel marks anniversary of Hamas attacks as Middle East war rages

- Source: CNN " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2177179879.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2177179879.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="
By Mackenzie Happe, CNN
" data-timestamp-html="
Updated 12:04 AM EDT, Tue October 8, 2024
" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-10-07T06:16:02.855Z" data-video-section="world" data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/07/world/video/israel-oct-7-anniversary-memorial-digvid" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="israel-oct-7-anniversary-memorial-digvid" data-first-publish-slug="israel-oct-7-anniversary-memorial-digvid" data-video-tags="" data-details="">
Family and friends gather at the Nova festival memorial to mark one the first anniversary since Hamas attacked one year ago, in Re’im, Israel, on October 7.
Moment of silence at music festival site commemoration pierced by painful scream
00:44 - Source: CNN

What we covered here

? Israel will “continue to fight,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday in a speech marking a year since the October 7 Hamas attacks. Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people and triggered a humanitarian crisis, catalyzing a widening regional conflict.

? The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired about 190 projectiles toward Israel from Lebanon Monday. Some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas, the military said. Hezbollah said it targeted gatherings of soldiers and Israeli military locations.

? Explosions tore through the skies in Beirut on Monday night after Israel warned residents that the IDF was going to target two areas in the southern suburbs, which an IDF Arabic spokesperson said were located near Hezbollah facilities and interests. Nightly strikes by Israel have targeted the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital since?September?27.

? Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered at the site of the Nova festival Monday to honor those who were killed there last year. Hours later, a memorial was held in Tel Aviv and at Kibbutz Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or abducted by Hamas.

? Here’s how to help civilians impacted by the war in Gaza.

69 Posts

Our live coverage has moved here.

1 year on, Israel's relentless attacks in Gaza are compounding a humanitarian catastrophe

Palestinian men convert plastic into liquid fuel in the Jabalya camp in northern Gaza on September 5.

On the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks, Gaza’s north was hit with more Israeli strikes — with no end in sight to the war devastating the enclave.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least?10 people in the Jabalya refugee camp, hospital officials said. Jabalya was targeted early on in Israel’s response to Hamas’ attacks one year ago and the camp has been struck several times during the war. Israel launched?a new ground operation?in the area on Sunday and encircled?the camp, where it says it saw signs of Hamas regrouping.

The Israeli military also issued fresh evacuation orders to residents in northern and southern Gaza on Monday, as it ramped up its offensive in both parts of the pummeled enclave.

The war has displaced 1.9 million people, according?to the United Nations. Residents who spoke to CNN said they feel there is no safe place to go.

The war has killed more than 41,000 people, more than a third of whom are children. Almost 100,000 are wounded, and an unknown number of people — possibly in the thousands — remain under rubble across Gaza, according to?the UN.

Hundreds of aid workers have been killed, including more than 220 team members of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said was the highest death toll in the history of the United Nations.

Israeli military says approximately 190 projectiles fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon

Hezbollah fired about 190 projectiles toward Israel from Lebanon on Monday,?as of 11 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET),?according to the Israeli military.

In various statements, Hezbollah said it was targeting gatherings of soldiers and Israeli military locations.

Israel continues to strike Lebanon on the 1-year anniversary of the October 7 attack. Here's the latest

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on Monday, October 7.

Israel will “continue to fight,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday in a speech marking a year since Hamas’ October 7 attacks. Meanwhile in the US, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also marked the “solemn” anniversary and called for a ceasefire and hostage deal.

This comes as questions swirl about whether?Netanyahu’s government?is disregarding the?Biden administration’s?calls for more restraint like it did in Gaza, leaving the White House again looking feckless.

Here are some developments in the region today:

In Israel: Israel intercepted projectiles from different directions today:

  • The Israeli military said it identified approximately five projectiles launched from Lebanon into Israel on Monday night. Some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas, the military said. Hezbollah says it launched a rocket barrage targeting an Israeli military intelligence base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv Monday night.
  • Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen toward central Israel on Monday. The purported missile triggered sirens in the area, including in Tel Aviv.
  • The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it intercepted five projectiles launched from the northern Gaza strip on Monday. Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said nine projectiles had been launched from southern Gaza, injuring two people.

In Lebanon: Israeli strikes killed people in multiple incidents in Lebanon. Here’s a rundown:

  • The skies of Beirut were lit up by an explosion on Monday evening (local time). It happened approximately half an hour after Israel’s military called on residents in several neighborhoods of the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate Monday night local time. In a statement, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force conducted strikes on “terror targets belonging to Hezbollah’s Intelligence Headquarters” on Monday night.
  • At least seven hospitals are in the no-go zones imposed?by the Israeli military in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, CNN analysis of Israeli military evacuation orders found.
  • Earlier Monday, an Israeli strike caused a large blast near Beirut’s airport in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson, said the IDF launched a precision attack in Beirut.
  • Elsewhere Monday, at least 10 firefighters were killed in another Israeli strike on a fire station in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said.
  • The Lebanese health ministry said Monday that at least 22 people were killed and 111 others were wounded in Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon on Sunday.

In Gaza: CNN received multiple reports of death across Gaza due to Israeli strikes. Here’s a rundown:

  • At least seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house at Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said Monday.
  • And at least four people, including two children, were killed in a strike on a residential building in the Beit Lahia area, according to Fares Afana, the head of emergency services in northern Gaza.
  • Earlier in the day, at least 10 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp on Monday, hospital officials said. A further 20 people have been injured, according to the Kamal Adwan Hospital. The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation order for the area on X around three hours before the strike.

In West Bank: Israeli forces killed a 12-year-old boy during an incursion into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday morning, Palestinian officials said.

US CIA director says Israel is still "weighing very carefully" its response to Iran

Central Intelligence Agency?Director William Burns said Monday that the risk of an unintended escalation in the Middle East looms as “a very real danger,” even though the US maintains its assessment that neither Iran nor Israel “is looking for an all-out conflict.”

Israel is “weighing very carefully how it’s going to respond to the most recent Iranian ballistic missile attack,” Burns said at a national security conference in Sea Island, Georgia, declining to speculate on what form that retaliation might take.

“I think all of us are acutely aware of the consequences of different forms of strikes and consequences for the global energy market and the global economy,” he said.

US President?Joe?Biden said last week that he would not support Israel striking?Iranian nuclear facilities, but it is not clear whether the US has successfully persuaded Israel to take that option off the table; markets have also been on edge due to the possibility that Israel could choose to strike oil facilities in Iran.

The greatest risk of escalation, Burns said, comes from “misjudgments,” what he termed “the ‘stuff happens’ category.”

On Iran, he said, the Supreme Leader continues to be the “ultimate decision-maker,”and said his agency has not detected “any kind of dramatic change of tone there.”

Burns also said he continues to hold out some hope that a successful deal can be reached between Israel and Hamas that could result in the release of the remaining living hostages. But those negotiations, he said, have “been pushing a very big rock up a very steep hill.”

“We’ve come close at least a couple of times, but it’s been very elusive,” he said.

“The President has been very clear that all of us will continue to do everything we can, with our eyes wide open —?I’ve learned not to get my hopes up on this issue over the course of the last year — but with a real determination, given the fact that when I meet with hostage families, it’s not only heartbreaking but also inspiring, given the depth of their commitment to their loved ones.”

On the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, reminders that the war in Gaza is still raging keep coming

Monday marked the first anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks, and a year since Israel?began its war?against the militant group in Gaza.

Over the past year, the site of the massacre on October 7 in Israel – a remote location just a few miles from the Gaza perimeter – has been turned into a memorial.

Instead of the vast open space, there are now hundreds of near identical cenotaphs, each featuring the name and a picture of a victim.

The Nova Music Festival massacre?was by far the deadliest of the October 7 attacks, accounting for nearly a third of the victims. There were so many dead?and kidnapped that it took Israeli authorities months to determine how many people had been killed there.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday that 347 people, most of them young, died at the site and some 40 others were kidnapped.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then. The war has sparked a major humanitarian disaster, displacing nearly all of the strip’s 2.2 million?residents.

As people gathered across Israel, the reminders that the war in Gaza is still raging kept coming. Throughout the morning, loud booms of outgoing fire reverberated throughout southern Israel as the IDF hit targets in?the Gaza strip.

Israel has said its goal in Gaza is to eliminate Hamas and bring back the remaining hostages, but neither has been achieved. Indeed, as the anniversary events got under way, several rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, injuring two people.

Read more on Israel’s commemoration of the October 7 attacks.

US is not currently pushing to revive Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal, officials say

Two weeks after Israel?upended a US-led ceasefire proposal?with Hezbollah, the US is?not actively trying to revive the?deal?and has resigned itself to trying to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran rather than halting hostilities, US officials told CNN.

The US’ inability to halt?Israel’s intense bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon, which has killed over 1,400 people in less than three weeks and displaced over 1 million more, has raised questions about whether?Benjamin Netanyahu’s government?is disregarding the?Biden administration’s?calls for more restraint like it did in Gaza, leaving the White House again looking feckless.

Concerns within the Biden administration are running high, officials say, that what Israel has promised would be a limited operation will soon grow into a larger-scale and prolonged conflict.?US-led efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas?have also floundered.

Read more on US efforts to influence Israel’s military campaign

Explosion lights up Beirut’s skies after Israeli evacuation order

An explosion on Monday, October 7, lights up the sky over  Beirut's southern suburbs.

The skies of Beirut were lit up by an explosion on Monday evening (local time) amid nightly strikes that have targeted the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital city since?September?27.

A CNN camera captured the explosion, which lit up the skies for less than a second but cast an orange light from the area that was targeted.

CNN staff also heard several strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs during?the?day.

Approximately half an hour before the explosion was captured by CNN, Avichay Adraee, the Arabic spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), warned residents that the IDF was going to target two areas in the southern suburbs, Burj Al-Barajneh and Hadath, which he said were located near Hezbollah facilities and interests.

In a later statement, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force had conducted strikes on “terror targets belonging to Hezbollah’s Intelligence Headquarters” on Monday night.

The IDF?said it had also struck alleged Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area on Monday morning, including “weapons storage facilities, terror infrastructure sites, and a launcher.”

Approximately 5 projectiles launched from Lebanon into Israel, IDF says

The Israeli military says multiple projectiles have been fired from Lebanon into Israel on Monday evening, local time.

A CNN team in Tel Aviv witnessed several intercepts.

The Israeli military said it identified approximately five projectiles launched from Lebanon into Israel on Monday night. Some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas, the military said.

Hezbollah says it launched a rocket barrage targeting an Israeli military intelligence base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv Monday night.

This post has been updated with additional comment from the Israeli military and Hezbollah.

Unsafe zones?in Beirut’s southern suburbs include at least 7 hospitals, CNN analysis finds

At least seven hospitals are in the no-go zones imposed?by the Israeli military in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, including Al Rassoul Al Azam Hospital and St. Therese Hospital, CNN analysis of Israeli military evacuation orders found.

The unsafe zones?in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a group of residential neighborhoods that?also?house?Hezbollah’s seat of power, encompass?nearly 9 square kilometers (3.4 square miles).

CNN analyzed a total of 39 evacuation orders up to and including the night of October 6, which?have been issued almost daily since?September 27 by Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee?in posts on X.

Typically, the posts warn residents to “immediately” evacuate specific buildings?slated for targeting and flee to areas beyond a 500-meter radius of the target.?Satellite images?embedded in the posts?show the target buildings highlighted in red.

Over the past 10 days, such warnings have preceded airstrikes, sometimes by no more than a few minutes.?In other cases, notably two strikes?that?hit within Beirut’s city limits for the first time since the 2006 war, no such warnings were issued.?CNN asked the Israeli military for comment on this at the time and did not receive a response.

CNN verified the locations of 39 buildings identified as being near Hezbollah targets?by the Israeli military up to the night of October 6,?and measured a 500-meter radius around each one to calculate the total area from which civilians were ordered to evacuate. It adds up to 8.9 square kilometers (3.4 square miles) of the city’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh.

The east of Dahiyeh?has been the epicenter of announced airstrikes so far, with some hitting very close to Lebanon’s only public airport.

The Israeli military has not yet given residents guidance on when they can return to the affected areas.

CNN also found that infographics shared early on by the Israeli military alongside its evacuation orders were inaccurate in some cases. The graphics appear to illustrate the 500-meter zone around target buildings from which residents must evacuate for their safety – showing a red circle around the highlighted building, and a dotted line annotated with “500 meters” in Arabic. In actuality, the radiuses of the highlighted buffer zones?in those cases?only measured around 100 meters.?This was the case for six separate evacuation orders before the IDF stopped including illustrations of the no-go-zones in their graphics.?CNN has contacted the IDF for comment.

Israel will "continue to fight," Netanyahu vows in speech marking October 7

Israel will “continue to fight,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday in a speech marking a year since Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

The prime minister reiterated Israel’s war goals, including toppling Hamas, returning the hostages in Gaza to Israel, returning to their homes Israelis who have fled from the south and north along with “eliminating any future threat from Gaza to Israel.”

“October 7 will symbolize for generations the cost of our revival, and for generations it will demonstrate how determined we are and how strong our spirit is,” Netanyahu said.

“Together we will continue to fight. And together, with God’s help, we will win,” he added.

US officials remark on Israel's future 1 year into the war in Gaza

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during event at the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC marking the anniversary of October 7.

Israel needs to “turn tactical wins in battle into a strategy that secures Israel’s people and its future,” the White House national security adviser said at an event commemorating one year since the October 7 attacks.

“It takes foresight to match the conduct of war to a clear and sustainable set of objectives, and to turn tactical advantage into enduring, strategic gains,” Jake Sullivan said at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, referring to the war in Gaza. “That is never easy, but it’s imperative, and we are here to work with you on that.”

His forward-looking comments were echoed by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller earlier Monday. He said at a press briefing that it’s “very difficult to answer” whether Israel is safer in the long-term after one year of the war in Gaza.

“Certainly, Israel is safer when it comes to the immediate threat that Hamas bears to the Israeli people. Hamas can, in no way, today launch an attack with the size, scale and scope of the attack it launched on October 7. So when it comes to dealing with the threat from Hamas, Israel is safer, at least in the short term,” Miller said.

However, “as long as Israel is mired in conflict in Gaza, as long as it is dealing with an unstable situation on its northern border, as long as it is dealing with unrest and insecurity in the West Bank, ultimately, its security is never going to be assured,” he added.

Miller said that there must be a path forward on “governance in Gaza by someone other than Hamas.”

Israel will "reap with joy" what it has "sown in tears," Israel's president says

Israel will “reap with joy” what it has “sown in tears,” Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said on Monday — in a speech marking one year since Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

“It has already been a year — a full year of heartbreak and pain,” Herzog said, adding that the hearts of Israelis are bound to the hostages still held in Gaza with “love and worry.”

“We know we will not be whole until they return to us,” he said.

The president said that he bowed his head in “gratitude and reverence” to the families of those murdered and kidnapped by Hamas and wished them “healing and comfort.”

“From here, I promise us, all of us, that we will continue to build, and we will reap with joy what we have sown in tears,” he continued. “Elderly men and women will once again sit in the gardens of homes in the western Negev, and the streets of the Galilee settlements will once again be filled with children playing.”

“We will rise together, only together, and this love, sanctified in blood, will once again?bloom?among?us,” Herzog said.

Israeli military issues "urgent warning" for residents in Beirut's southern suburbs to evacuate

Israel’s military called on residents in several neighborhoods of the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate Monday night local time.

The areas under the latest evacuation order were the suburbs of Burj Al-Barajneh and Hadath, IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X. The post was accompanied by a map of the area with specific buildings identified.

“For your safety and the safety of your families, you must evacuate these buildings and the surrounding ones immediately and move at least 500 meters away from them,” Adraee warned Lebanese citizens.

Earlier Monday, an Israeli strike caused a large blast near Beirut’s airport in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.

Large smoke plumes were seen rising from the southern Dahiyeh neighborhood following the strike, though planes continued to depart and land at Beirut’s international airport.

This Palestinian reporter fled Gaza for her children's safety. Now, she says she lives with survivor's guilt

Al Jazeera English correspondent Youmna ElSayed appears on CNN on Monday, October 7,

It’s been 10 months since Al Jazeera English correspondent Youmna ElSayed fled Gaza, and she said it was “one of the most difficult decisions” even as it was the “only choice” she had to save her children.

“My greatest fears were?always that my children at home?are not safe, and I could lose?them in any air strike,” she told CNN.

“I was forced to?leave because I was left with?no other choice to protect?their lives. I was threatened?more than once I was displaced?over six times. Life was getting incredibly?more and more challenging every?single day,” she explained.

She now lives in Egypt, where she said life hasn’t been easy as she struggles with survivor’s guilt. “It has impacted me a lot?physically and emotionally,?mentally,” she said.

ElSayed criticized the underreporting of the devastation in Gaza, and pointed that the public has started seeing the situation because they follow Palestinian journalists and Gaza residents who are “documenting these war crimes that they are subjected to.”

She described meeting a child at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis who was carrying a backpack close to his chest. “He asked me, ‘do you know what’s in my backpack?’ And before I can answer, I see blood under the backpack. Just like that, scenes of blood. And I just know inside what I’m expecting to see. I know what he’s trying to tell me.”

It was his 5-year-old brother, she told CNN. “I didn’t have the courage to document that,” she said.

“I felt for quite some time guilty that I was not brave enough to document it,” she said. “I let him down because I did not react quickly and document that. I blamed myself for days. And this has been 10 months ago, and I can’t get over it, and I will never get over it.”

As she reflected on a year of war in Gaza, she said life in Gaza before October 7 “wasn’t normal anyway.”

“We had no opportunities to travel, to plan a simple vacation like any family in the world, even if we had the financial means. If someone got sick, we weren’t sure if we could be able to take this person to lifesaving treatment somewhere else, or he would die in Gaza,” she said, placing responsibility on western governments and lawmakers — not the people — for “double standards” on the Israel-Gaza issue.

At least 11 people killed in Israeli strikes in central and northern Gaza, local authorities say

At least 11 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in central and northern Gaza, according to local authorities.

Seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house at Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said Monday.

And at least four people, including two children, were killed in a strike on a residential building in the Beit Lahia area, according to the head of emergency services in northern Gaza, Fares Afana.

Several injured people were recovered from the site in Beit Lahia but others remained under the rubble, Afana added.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they launched missiles and drones at Israel

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched both missiles and drones at Israel on Monday.

The Houthis fired two missiles at Israeli military sites in Jaffa and Tel Aviv, Houthi army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.

Both missiles “(achieved) their objectives successfully,” Saree claimed.

Earlier Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had said a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen was successfully intercepted?by the Israeli Air Force.

Israeli fire crews worked to put out fires caused by fragments of an intercepted projectile in Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, a spokesperson for the area said.

Saree also said that the Houthis had launched drones into Jaffa, in central Israel, and Eilat in southern Israel. The IDF said it was “not aware” of any drone launches from?Yemen.

The Houthis attacked Israel “in continued support of the oppressed Palestinian and Lebanese peoples, and in solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements,” Saree said.

The Israel-Hamas war has?been the deadliest year for journalists

The year since the Israel-Hamas war began in Gaza has been the deadliest for media workers since?most journalism and?press freedom organizations have started tracking journalist deaths in conflict.

According to the?Committee to Protect Journalists?and?Reporters Without Borders, at least 128 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war, nearly all of them Palestinian media workers in Gaza killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Some of the journalists died while wearing protective gear identifying them as members of the press. Multiple news organizations and free press groups have accused the Israeli military of deliberately targeting journalists.

The Israeli military has repeatedly said it does not intentionally target journalists, but that it?cannot guarantee the safety?of reporters in an “active military zone” and has accused Hamas of deliberately?placing military operations?“in the vicinity of journalists and civilians.” It has also?accused?a handful of Palestinian journalists as having participated in the October 7 attack or being members of Hamas, something the media organizations have largely and vehemently?denied.

Many media organizations, including CNN, evacuated their full-time staff in the enclave with their families as soon as possible. Gaza was never an easy place to report from, between restrictions on entry and exit and pressure from Hamas against any inkling of dissent.

Reporters in Israel have also noted a marked increase in physical attacks, with the Union of Journalists in Israel noting at least?40 such attacks?since October 7, from security forces?as well as civilians. Four Israeli journalists were killed in the October 7 attacks, and others?barely survived.

Palestinian teen who became a journalist to document Israel’s offensive killed in northern Gaza

Hassan Hammad, left,  and Ismail Al Ghoul, an Al Jazeera correspondent who was killed in an Israeli strike in July.

When he was younger, 18-year-old Hassan Hamad dreamed of being a doctor when he grew up, according to his brother Mohammad. But the October 7 attacks last year and the ensuing war in Gaza made him want to become a journalist instead.

After months of documenting Israel’s offensive in his home territory, the 18-year-old reporter was killed when his family’s apartment was hit in an Israeli missile attack in Jabalya refugee camp?in northern Gaza on Sunday, according to?witness?testimony and footage shared with CNN.

In the aftermath of the assault, Mohammad recalled trying to recover Hassan’s scattered body parts. “My father, our neighbor, and I collected four kilograms (nine pounds) of his flesh… My father buried Hassan’s remains in the garden until we could collect the rest,” he said.

“I feel so much guilt because I opened the door (to my apartment) for him. I shouldn’t have opened it,” Mohammad said, adding that they were just two meters (about six and a half feet) from each other when the strike happened.

“Hassan was very brave. He wanted the world to see what was happening in northern Gaza, and he insisted on doing the job even though many of his colleagues were killed,” Mohammad added.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed a record number of journalists, according to the?Committee to Protect Journalists?(CPJ), which reported on Friday that at least 128 journalists and media workers —?mostly Palestinian — have been killed.

State Department won't say if US views Israeli airstrikes as in compliance with international law

The United States continues to assess Israel’s ground operations in Lebanon to be “limited,” but a State Department spokesperson Monday would not say whether the US views the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut to also be “limited.”

Matthew Miller argued that the US supports strikes targeting Hezbollah, but expects them to be done “in a way that complies with international humanitarian law and minimizes civilian casualties.”

Similar calls from the US for Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza have not yielded results.

Miller said Monday that he did not have a “sweeping characterization” of the Israeli military’s strikes on the Lebanese capital and would not say if the US assesses them to be in compliance with international humanitarian law. He also would not say if the US is carrying out its own assessments of the matter.

“I can’t give you a readout of what we’re doing with respect to strikes in Lebanon, but we take that obligation incredibly seriously,” he said at a press briefing.

US says it has evacuated about 900 citizens, residents and their family members from Lebanon

The US continued to organize flights for American citizens to leave Lebanon over the weekend, bringing the total number of US citizens, legal permanent residents and their family members evacuated to about 900, according to a State Department spokesperson.

“There was another flight that left today from Beirut to Istanbul,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing. “That flight had approximately 150 passengers on it, American citizens, legal permanent residents and their family members.”

Miller indicated that none of the flights organized by the US have been full. He?said that the US has chartered a total of eight flights with 300 seats available on each for a total of 2,400 available seats, of which about 900 had been filled.

Miller also said that the US has also continue to reserve seats on commercial flights for US citizens to leave Lebanon, bringing the total to 868 seats reserved.

“We don’t know exactly how many of those have been filled, because we don’t get an exact number, but we know that a significant proportion of those 868 seats have been filled,” said Miller.

Miller said that the number of Americans in Lebanon who have reached out to the State Department for information about possibly leaving the country has also increased to around 8,500, but noted that not all of them have chosen to leave.

“We advise them to leave, and we’ve been making these seats available, and we’ll continue to make them available as long as there is demand, and long as the security situation demands it,” said Miller, who noted that many of the US citizens in Lebanon are “making daily assessments about their situation.”

Mother of Israeli hostage Romi Gonen describes what the year has been like without her daughter

In this screengrab from video, Meirav Gonen, mother of Romi Gonen, speaks with Christiane Amanpour.

It’s been a year since Meirav Gonen’s daughter, Romi, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in Israel on October 7, 2023.

It’s been one year since Gonen heard her daughter’s voice, she told CNN, adding that she doesn’t know how her daughter looks like today, if she’s holding up, if she lost her hand after being shot on the day of the attack, or if she’s smiling like she always smiled.

“I cannot even explain?how you feel when you?wake up in the morning, and for?the first moments you hope this?is only a nightmare, a dream, a?bad dream. But then you are?waking up to a reality,” she said. “This?is so agonizing, it’s so difficult.”

Gonen said some Israeli hostages who returned home were with her daughter and they told her stories about her in captivity.

The freed hostages also said that her daughter lost color in her fingers, Gonen said.

“The color in her fingers?was changing, that her hand is?not functioning,” Gonen said. “That time I thought,?wow, she’s she’s going to?lose her hand. We have to bring?her back. But today I’m saying, it doesn’t matter if she lost?her hand. We just have to bring?her back alive.”

In August, the Gonen family marked Romi’s 24th birthday.

“At first, we wanted to hide the fact” that it was her birthday, Gonen said. “But at a?certain point, we thought that?maybe she will see us.”

So they marked the day to bring light and strength for people, she said.

The war, she said, is not about Israel and Palestine, but rather against Hamas. “We will?not break because we are the?good and the Hamas is evil,” she said.

Family member of kidnapped hostages says life will never be same after October 7 attack

In this screengrab from video, Eylon Keshet speaks with CNN.

One year after several of his family members were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack, Eylon Keshet said he knows life will never be the same again.

“I’m really afraid?that the next time I see them?will be a very big funeral for?all of them. This is what I?dread the most,” he told CNN.

His cousin Yarden Bibas, Yarden’s wife Shiri, and their two young children were all kidnapped from Nir Oz, an Israeli kibbutz that was devastated when it came under attack by Hamas militants on October 7.

Keshet said even if his family members are still alive, nothing will be the same. He said every day since that attack has felt like October 7, 2023, repeated over and over.

“Even if they’re coming?back, and I so wish they do, they?lost so much,” Keshet said. He said Shiri’s parents and their friends were killed and their house has been destroyed.

“I?know that even them coming back?is only the beginning for them?to heal and for them to maybe?someday be able to move on from?everything that’s happened.?Shiri probably doesn’t even?know that her parents were murdered,” he said.

“It will never be the same?before and after” the October 7 attack, Keshet added.

As for the global response, he said empathy is not enough to bring back his family. Keshet said there needs to be “real action from real people that have the authority to make such action.”

22 killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, health ministry says

Twenty-two people were killed and 111 others were wounded in Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon on Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Since September 16, at least 1,448 people have been killed and 7,677 people have been wounded by Israeli offensive operations in Lebanon, according to a CNN tally based on the ministry’s figures.

"We don’t have the luxury of grief": Humanitarian worker in Gaza reflects on a year of war?

A Palestinian woman holds pita bread in a makeshift tent next to rubble of a house destroyed, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Monday.

One humanitarian worker in Gaza said they “don’t have the luxury of grief” as she reflects on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

Lena, a worker for the non-profit organization Mercy Corps,?said she has been displaced more than a dozen times since last year. She is currently living in a shelter in central Gaza. CNN is not using her real name due to concerns for her safety.

“We haven’t put our clothes in wardrobes, bathed comfortably, had a meal with any sense of peace, slept on a proper bed, or had clean drinking water in over a year,” she added.

Lena described the humanitarian situation in the enclave as “unbelievable.” She said that as a humanitarian worker, she has “seen firsthand the overwhelming needs in terms of shelter, food, and basic supplies.”

“Every day brings new challenges, but we do our best to support vulnerable populations through emergency response programs, even when resources are stretched thin,” she said.

Israel tells people to avoid?the coastline south of Lebanon’s Awali River

Israel’s military has told people in Lebanon to avoid the coastline south of the Awali River and?refrain from using boats — warning that it will soon take action against Hezbollah in the area.

“For your safety, avoid being at sea or on the beach from now until further notice. Being on the beach or operating boats in the area south of the Awali River line poses a danger to your life,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X.

Families of those killed or kidnapped by Hamas in October 7 attacks hold memorial service in Tel Aviv

Hundreds of families of those who were killed or kidnapped during the October 7 terror attack by Hamas have gathered for a memorial service in Tel Aviv, on Monday.

Hundreds of people?have gathered?in Tel Aviv for the main memorial ceremony?commemorating?the victims of the October 7 terror attacks.

The gathering in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park is taking place under strict security measures, with entry restricted only to the families and friends of those who were killed or kidnapped by Hamas and other militant groups during the attack last year.

The original plans to open the gathering to the public were scrapped after Israeli security authorities restricted attendance at events to 2,000 people following the Iranian missile attack last week.

The families?began the gathering by holding?a minute’s silence which will be followed by speeches from some of the family members and survivors of the attack.

The family of Yair Yaakov is among those attending the ceremony, and his son Yigal is among the speakers.

Yaakov, 59, a resident of kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel was murdered on October 7, when terrorists stormed his home. His family, however, didn’t know about his death, believing he was taken hostage into Gaza, his brother Yaniv told CNN at the event in Tel Aviv.

It wasn’t until February that they found out that he was killed and his body kidnapped into Gaza. Yaniv told CNN that bringing his brother’s body back home for burial is now “the most important thing” for the family, especially for his mother.

“She is alive, but she’s not living. This is all she can think about,” he said.

Putin will discuss situation in Middle East with Iranian president

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday and discuss the situation in the Middle East,?according to the Russian state-run media?outlet TASS.

The pair will meet in Turkmenistan, TASS reported Monday, adding that the meeting was announced at a briefing by Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov.

“This meeting is of great importance, both for discussing bilateral issues and, of course, for discussing the sharply aggravated situation in the Middle East,” Ushakov said, according to TASS.

At least 10 killed in Israeli airstrike on Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, hospital officials say

At least 10 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp on Monday, hospital officials said. A further 20 people have been injured, according to the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Footage from the scene showed multiple dead bodies lying in the street covered in blood.

The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson had issued an evacuation order for the area on X around three hours before the strike.

“For your safety, you must evacuate these areas immediately to the newly created humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,” Avichay Adraee said in the post, adding that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was “operating with great force” in several areas of northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security urged civilians “not to respond to the occupation’s threats to evacuate their homes.”

“The occupation is working to deceive citizens by claiming the existence of safe corridors and displacement areas,” the ministry said, suggesting that the IDF is “executing citizens on their way to the southern Gaza Strip.”

On Sunday, the IDF said that it?had “encircled”?the?densely populated?Jabalya refugee camp after it said it had detected the presence of Hamas members there.

Biden commemorates October 7 anniversary with candle lighting ceremony at White House

President Joe Biden, center, with first lady Jill Biden and Rabbi Aaron Alexander, lights a memorial candle in the Blue Room of the White House on Monday.

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden commemorated the anniversary of the October 7?terrorist attack at the White House Monday, lighting a yahrzeit candle and holding a moment of silence.

The Bidens were joined by Rabbi Aaron Alexander of the Adas Israel Congregation. Rabbi Alexander, who is a friend of the Goldberg-Polin family, recited the “El Malei Rachamim” prayer as part of the commemoration.

The Goldberg-Polin’s son, Hersh, was abducted by Hamas last year before ultimately being murdered by the terrorist group in August.

Biden did not make any remarks and left the room following the moment of silence.

Biden also gave his “deepest condolences” to the people of Israel and the families whose loved ones were killed during the October 7th?terrorist attack in a call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog this morning.

Both leaders, according to a White House readout of the call, also “reaffirmed” their commitment to achieving a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

This post has been updated with additional details.

One year on, Gazans say the war has made them “bodies without souls”

Palestinian women mourn near the bodies of relatives killed in an Israeli airstrike, outside the morgue in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza, in June.

A mood of desperation consumes many Palestinians in?the Gaza Strip who are living in dire humanitarian conditions, having endured 12 months of Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.

“We have spent a year in war,” Abdallah Hmeida, a cancer patient displaced from Beit Lahia, told CNN in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah. Hmeida has lost his parents, his brother and his sisters in the conflict, he said.

“It is torment. We do not know where to go, and we live in tents.”

Nabila Shunnar, a displaced woman from Sheikh Radwan, said she has spent the last year “in fear, terror, hunger and tragedy.”

Residents of Gaza told CNN they did not expect the fighting to drag on for a year and some now worry it may be endless, as they see no concrete efforts to cement a ceasefire.

Some residents say they have been waiting months for the war to end only so they can bury their dead or retrieve their remains.

Um Fadi, a displaced woman from northern Gaza who now shelters in Deir al-Balah, said she lost hope in the world’s ability to act in the face of the bloodshed. Living in tents with her husband and five children, Fadi fears for the coming winter, saying her family have no clothes that can shelter them from the cold.

For Gazans, it has been 365 days “of suffering, poverty, hunger, disease, instability, and lack of security,” she told CNN.

“We are bodies without souls,” she added.

Israel says it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen

People take cover as sirens sound to warn of incoming rockets in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on October 7.

The Israeli military has said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen toward central Israel on Monday.

The purported missile triggered sirens in the area, including in Tel Aviv.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have not yet commented on the purported missile launch from that country.

Israeli strikes cause large blast near Beirut airport?

Smoke rises over Dahiyeh in Beirut's southern suburbs after Israeli air strikes, in Lebanon, on October 7.

An Israeli strike caused a large blast near Beirut’s airport in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on Monday.

Big plumes of smoke were seen rising from the southern Dahiyeh neighborhood following the strike, though planes continued to depart and land at Beirut’s international airport.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a precision attack in Beirut adding that more details will follow. It’s unclear if the incident Adraee was referring to is the same strike in southern Beirut.

"Resurrection War:" Netanyahu proposes renaming conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted a proprosal to rename the war launched following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks to “Resurrection War.”

The conflict is currently?named “Swords of Iron.”

“This is the ‘resurrection war’ to ensure that October 7 never happens again,” Netanyahu said Monday at a government meeting marking the one-year anniversary of the attacks, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

“This is a war for our existence,” the prime minister said, adding the war will not end until all of its goals are completed, which include destroying Hamas, retrieving the hostages, “thwarting any future threat from Gaza” and returning evacuated citizens of the north back to their homes.

Hamas’ attack a year ago was the worst atrocity on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Netanyahu said that “unlike during the Holocaust — we rose up against our enemies to fight a fierce war.”

Opposition head Yair Lapid shot back at the prime minister’s suggested name. “You can change as many names as you’d like, (but) you won’t change the fact that under your watch, the worst catastrophe in Israel’s history has occurred,” Lapid wrote on Telegram.?This government isn’t the government of resurrection, it is the government of blame.”

The Hostage Families Forum in a statement said: “There is no and there won’t be a resurrection without returning all the hostages.”

12-year-old killed during Israeli raid on refugee camp in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

Israeli soldiers raid the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of East Jerusalem on October 7.

Israeli forces killed a 12-year-old boy during an incursion into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday morning, Palestinian officials said.

Hatem Sami Hisham Ghaith died after being shot by Israeli forces at the Qalandiya refugee camp, roughly five miles from Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The camp lies near the main checkpoint linking Ramallah with Jerusalem.

The boy arrived at a local hospital, the Ramallah Palestine Medical Complex, with a bullet wound to his abdomen that later caused his intestines to rupture, the health ministry added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) said its crews have been attending to eight people who had been injured by live bullets, and one person who was shot in the head with a rubber bullet.

CNN has reached out to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the incident.

More on the raid: At least 22 Palestinian men from the camp were arrested by the Israeli soldiers, a representative for the camp told CNN. Video shared widely on social media showed Israeli troops escorting blindfolded handcuffed men on the streets on Monday.

Videos show groups of teenagers burning tires and throwing stones in the direction of Israeli military vehicles.

In one video filmed by Reuters news agency, teenagers can be seen running from the fires as several ambulances from the PRC arrived on the scene.

In another video shared on social media, verified by CNN, Israeli soldiers can be seen shooting towards the area from which the stones are being thrown.

Absence of Iranian commander of elite Quds Force raises questions

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, second right, awards Fath Medal of honour to IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, in Tehran, Iran, on October 6.

The commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force Esmail Qaani has been absent from public events over the past week, prompting speculation that the top general may have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.

Iranian officials and state media rushed to dispel rumors of his death this weekend. “Many ask us what happened to General Qaani. He is healthy and active,” the deputy commander for the Quds Force, Iraj Masjedi, was cited as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency Monday. The Quds Force, or Jerusalem Force, is part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran’s state news agency?said Qaani is not attending a?conference for Palestinian children Monday to “attend an important meeting” without elaborating further.

Qaani, who replaced Qassem Soleimani after the latter was killed by the United States in 2020, was notably absent from a ceremony held by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday.

Qaani was also absent from Khamenei’s rare Friday prayer sermon commemorating the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel last month.

Reuters?cited two-Iranian security sources?saying Qaani traveled to Lebanon after Israel assassinated Nasrallah but has not been heard from since Thursday. Reuters cites one of the Iranian officials saying Qaani was in Beirut’s southern suburbs during a strike targeting Nasrallah’s possible successor Hashem Safieddine. CNN is not able to confirm the Reuters reporting and has reached out to the Iranian foreign ministry for comment.

Hezbollah lost contact with Safieddine since an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs targeted him, a Lebanese security source told CNN earlier.

After succeeding Soleimani, Qaani took charge of Iran’s vast paramilitary network across the Middle East. He is sanctioned by the US, the UK and other Western nations.

Ten firefighters killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

At least 10 firefighters were killed after an Israeli strike hit a fire station in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said on Monday.

The firefighters were in the building in the town of Baraachit “preparing to set out on rescue missions” before the strike destroyed the building, the ministry said.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment. The Lebanese health ministry said debris is still being removed from the destroyed fire station.

Israeli military issues evacuation orders for northern and southern Gaza

Palestinians walk past the rubble of houses destroyed in Israel's military offensive in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 7.

The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders to residents in northern and in southern Gaza on Monday, as it ramps up its military operation in both parts of the enclave.

The areas under evacuation in the north include Beit Hanoun, the Jabaliya refugee camp and Beit Lahia. In the south, Gazans were warned to evacuate Bani Suhaila, Al-Mahta, Sheikh Nasser and Maan, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it is responding?with “extreme force” to “Hamas terrorist actions” in those areas.

The southern Gaza order came just one hour after the IDF renewed an evacuation order asking residents to evacuate multiple areas in the north and move southwards toward Al-Mawasi – a coastal region in Khan Younis where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled Israel’s bombardment from other parts of Gaza.

Residents who spoke to CNN said they feel there is no safe place to go to.

Several killed: Before the announcement of the new evacuation notice, the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza said it received people with several “artillery fire” injuries from Beit Lahia.

The hospital said that five men were killed, and a “number” of others injured “after being struck by a drone strike in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.” The dead and wounded were brought to the northern medical facility.

More context: Gaza’s north is witnessing renewed strikes. The Israeli military on Sunday said it launched a new ground operation in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, encircling the area after seeing signs of Hamas rebuilding, despite nearly a year of fighting and strikes in the territory.

Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said its fighters are engaged “in fierce clashes at zero distance with the enemy forces” in Jabaliya.

The orders come as Israel marks the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack, and as the IDF launches several strikes throughout the strip, saying it had “thwarted” threats.

This post has been updated with more details on the evacuation orders in Gaza.

American hostage families spoke with senior White House officials Sunday?

Some families of the Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza spoke with two senior White House officials on Sunday, a source familiar with the call said.

The call with senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein, who traveled to Israel last month, and White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk came one day before the anniversary of the October 7th?terror attack against Israel.

In a statement Monday morning, US President Joe Biden renewed his calls for a ceasefire deal that would secure the release of hostages even as those talks have gained little traction in recent weeks.

“We will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the hostages home, allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to ease the suffering on the ground, assures Israel’s security, and ends this war. Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity, and peace,” he added.

President Biden said on Saturday that he would be speaking with the hostage families, but it’s unclear whether any of those conversations might happen today.

The White House did not immediately comment on the hostage families’ call with McGurk and Hochstein on Sunday.

Netanyahu and Gallant pay tribute to October 7 victims

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has paid tribute to the “fallen of Jerusalem” in a joint event with the city’s major, one year after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

Netanyahu and Moshe Leon lit candles at the “Iron Swords” monument erected in Jerusalem in honor of the victims.

“We went through a terrible massacre a year ago, and we stood up as a people, as lions. The people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up themselves as a young lion,” the pair said in a statement on Monday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant?meanwhile issued a lengthy statement remembering the “nightmare of a brutal attack” and pledging to win “a war against enemies on 7 different fronts.”

“The peaceful communities, the site of a music festival, the agricultural lands – the beautiful region of southern Israel, was scorched by bloodthirsty murderers with only one wish in their hearts – the total destruction and annihilation of Israel,” Gallant said.

“On this painful day, more than ever, we are eternally committed to the security and continuity of the State of Israel and her people.”

Israel intercepts 5 projectiles from northern Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it intercepted five projectiles launched from the northern Gaza strip on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said nine projectiles had been launched from southern Gaza, injuring two people.

US defense secretary offers "unwavering" commitment to Israel’s security in call with Israeli counterpart

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, on May 8.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin offered the United States’ “unwavering” commitment to Israel’s security during a call Sunday with his Israeli counterpart on the eve of the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, according to a readout of the call.

Secretary Austin reiterated to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the US position that Israel has a right to defend itself and noted the US maintains “significant capability” to defend US personnel and to support Israel’s self-defense.

Austin also expressed his condolences for two Israeli soldiers killed in an attack on October 3 and wished a “full recovery for those who were injured.”

Austin and Gallant also emphasized their commitment to “deterring Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from taking advantage of the situation or expanding the conflict.”

Biden and Harris mark one year since October 7 attack, calling for a ceasefire and hostage deal

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris marked one year since the deadly October 7 attack in Israel with statements commemorating the “solemn” anniversary and calling for a ceasefire and hostage deal.

He also said: “On this solemn anniversary, let us bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of the?October 7th?attacks but also to the beauty of the lives that were stolen that day.”

Harris and Biden also both called for a diplomatic solution amid the now-expanding war between Hezbollah and Israel.?And both leaders reiterated US support for Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of attacks by Iran.

“It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people. And I will always fight for the Palestinian people to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security, and self-determination. We also continue to believe that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes,” Harris wrote.

And the vice president said she is “devastated” by the loss and pain felt since the October 7 attack, which launched the war in Gaza.

“We will not forget, and we will not lose faith. And in honor of all those souls we lost on October 7, we must never lose sight of the dream of peace, dignity, and security for all,” she wrote.

A year after the October 7 attacks, the Middle East is engulfed by conflict. Here’s what you need to know

Israel is marking the first anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks — an assault that left more than 1,200 people dead and more than 200 taken hostage. A number of vigils and memorial events are taking place across the country on a somber date.

But the region remains engulfed by war on several fronts, and fighting has continued in Gaza, Lebanon and within Israel on Monday.

Israel has launched a new offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza, forcing hundreds of Palestinians to flee, and it continues to mull an anticipated retaliation against Iran for last week’s barrage of missiles.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • Israel marks October 7: Hundreds of people gathered at the site of the Nova festival as dawn broke, to honor the 347 people who were murdered by Hamas and the 40 others taken hostage one year ago at the event. Another memorial was held at the commune Kibbutz Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or abducted by Hamas.
  • Retaliation against Iran: While Israel marks a somber date, the region and the wider world are bracing for its expected retaliation against Iran, which last week sent a volley of missiles and rockets towards Tel Aviv and other cities. Israel is closely coordinating with the United States as it prepares to strike back at Iran but will make its own, independent decisions about how to retaliate, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN.
  • Hostage confirmed dead: Idan Shtivi, who was thought to have been killed during Hamas’ attack on October 7 last year, has been confirmed dead, according to the Hostages and Families Forum Headquarters. The forum said his body is being held in Gaza. Shtivi attended the Nova music festival and was killed at the site, the forum said.
  • Hamas launches rockets: At least two people were injured in Israel after Hamas said it launched rockets from Gaza Monday morning. Israel’s military said nine projectiles were launched from southern Gaza into Israel.
  • Strikes on Haifa: At least five people were injured in Haifa Sunday following a Hezbollah rocket attack, which appeared to mark the first time the militant group struck the northern Israeli city during this conflict. The IDF said it had spotted five projectiles heading toward the city and tried to intercept them, but several landed.
  • The latest in Gaza: Israel’s military says it has encircled Jabalya in northern Gaza and launched a new ground operation after seeing signs of Hamas rebuilding there. Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes targeted a school and mosque being used as shelters in central Gaza where it claimed Hamas was operating, killing at least 25 people and overwhelming a nearby hospital.

Analysis: The Middle East is facing its greatest upheaval in a half-century

It is almost impossible to remember life in?Israel?before Hamas?launched its?brutal?October 7 attacks?a year ago. There is little point, because that life is gone for good. And not just because more than 100?hostages?are still captive.

The same is true beyond Israel’s borders.

Israel, its?enemies and allies are all harbingers and painful?witnesses?to a remaking of the region’s diplomatic and political architecture on a scale that could rival the upheavals of the Arab-Israeli conflict a half-century ago.

The post-October 7 changes are both inevitable and, in their current chaotic form at least, preventable. The civilian cost is mounting when diplomacy might have saved lives.

A year ago it seemed the political architecture of the region was on the cusp of significant change. Propelled by US incentives, Saudi?Arabia?and Israel seemed closer than ever to a historic normalization of relations. Diplomacy and the deft?skills?needed?to stitch?such a complex deal?together were in the ascendency.

But?the?prospect of approaching peace and prosperity evaporated as Hamas surged through the Gaza border fences at sunrise that Saturday morning. Butchery was afoot.

Irrespective of whether?Hamas leader?Yahya Sinwar?was?calculating he could torpedo normalization and push the Palestinian cause ahead?of?regional priorities for peace and economic integration,?in the short term he succeeded.

Read the full analysis.

Two wounded near Tel Aviv after Hamas launches rockets from Gaza

Emergency personnel respond after a rocket apparently fired from Gaza hits Kfar Chabad near Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 7.

At least two people were wounded in Israel after Hamas launched rockets from Gaza this morning.

Israel’s military said nine projectiles were launched from southern Gaza into Israel.

Hamas’ military wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said it struck “the depth of the occupation, the city of Tel Aviv, with a barrage of M90 rockets.”

Israel’s Emergency Services, MDA, treated two women with mild “shrapnel injuries” in Kfar Chabad, just southeast of Tel Aviv, following the attack.

A CNN team on the ground in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where an October 7 memorial service was taking place, saw what appeared to be the smoke trails left by several rockets in the sky.

Emergency personnel inspect the area.

Rocket strikes from Gaza into Israel have become increasingly rare over the past year as Israel has degraded Hamas’ military capabilities in its war on the group.

Israel’s military said it had “thwarted an immediate threat” on Monday by striking “Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Iran’s supreme leader says October 7 attack set Israel back 70 years

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that the Hamas-led October 7 attacks last year “set the Zionist regime (Israel) back 70 years.”

He made the statement in a Hebrew-language X post sent at 6:29 a.m. Israel time on Monday, the exact time the attacks started a year ago.

At the exact same time, the Israeli military posted on X: “One year ago today, our country’s history was forever changed.”

Khamenei led a rare sermon in Tehran on Friday to commemorate the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last month, during which he praised Hamas’ October 7 attack and described it as “legitimate.”

Hamas and Hezbollah are part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” an alliance of Islamist militant groups spanning Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen.

“Time has stopped here”: Kibbutz Nir Oz holds somber October 7 memorial

A memorial ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the October 7 terror attack in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.

A memorial ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack has ended in Israel’s Kibbutz Nir Oz, just a few miles from Gaza.

The agricultural commune of 400 people was among the worst impacted by the attack, with one in four residents murdered or kidnapped.

The Bibas family — husband and wife Yarden and Shiri, their young son Ariel, and baby Kfir — were among those kidnapped on that day. They, along with more than 20 others from the kibbutz, are still being held in Gaza.

In a particularly poignant moment, the names of those murdered in the kibbutz last year were read aloud. The speakers struggled to get through the long list of names, pausing to take a moment when their emotions became too raw.

“We cannot move on when people from the kibbutz are still there, Amat Moshe, whose grandparents were residents of the kibbutz, told CNN before the event started.

Last October, Moshe’s grandmother Adina watched the as Hamas fighters stormed her home and murdered her husband David before kidnapping her to Gaza. She was released as part of a ceasefire deal in November last year.

Most of Nir Oz’s residents have yet to return, living together in the town of Kiryat Gat, about an hour’s drive away. Only six have come back.

President of Israel Isaac Herzog and First Lady of Israel Michal Herzog, right and center, speak with released hostages from Kibbutz Nir Oz ahead of a ceremony to mark the first anniversary since the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among those present at the commemoration. He?also attended?a memorial held at the Nova festival site earlier in the morning.

As people gathered to mark the anniversary, the Israeli military reported that several projectiles were fired from Gaza toward Israel. Throughout the morning, the sounds of outgoing artillery fire could be heard, as the military continued striking targets inside Gaza.

"Should we kill ourselves?": Displaced Palestinians wonder where to go after year of war

A Palestinian man speaks to CNN in Jabalya, northern Gaza, on October 6.

Several Palestinian fathers in Gaza told CNN their families cannot face another wave of displacement, as Israeli forces launched renewed aerial and ground attacks in?northern Gaza on Sunday.

CNN footage from Jabalya showed boys riding bicycles and vendors manning thinly stocked market stalls yesterday. Echoes of young children filled the area as women walked wearily along the dusty pathway. The Israeli military told people to evacuate Gaza’s north to the Israeli-designated “humanitarian area” of Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis.

But residents say they are wary of attempting to flee the besieged neighborhood in search of refuge, citing numerous Israeli attacks targeting Hamas militants in Israeli-designated “safe zones.”

“I will die and not go to the south,” he said, adding that he was trying to protect 20 other relatives from Israel’s bombardment. “We are resisting and will not leave the north, even if I die here.”

The Israeli offensive in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has displaced 1.9 million people, according?to the UN. On Sunday, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees warned that?the enclave?“has become a place unfit for humans,” citing destruction, hunger and disease.

The history teacher said he would rather stay with his two sons at their home, preferring to die “with dignity.”

“There are many like me who will stay in Jabalya. We have no friends, relatives, or real safe shelter, and since death is the same, we will remain.”

Khader Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

Hostage families group confirms death of Israeli thought to have been killed on October 7

Idan Shtivi, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attack.

Idan?Shtivi, who was?thought to have been?killed?during Hamas’ attack on October 7?last year,?has been confirmed dead,?according to the Hostages and Families Forum Headquarters.

The forum said his body is being held in Gaza.

Shtivi?attended the Nova music festival and was killed at the site, the?forum said.

UN official in Gaza says people "remain desperate" as war hits one-year mark

One year since the October 7 attacks, people in Gaza remain desperate for relief from Israel’s unrelenting offensive, a United Nations official in the enclave told CNN.

“People here remain desperate. Hostages remain in Gaza, their families wait for them,” Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN humanitarian affairs (UNOCHA) suboffice in Gaza, told CNN’s Rosemary Church.

The Israeli military launched a new offensive in northern Gaza this weekend, days before the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, which killed over 1,200 people.

The war in Gaza – which Israel says is aimed at destroying Hamas – has killed more than 41,000 people and triggered a dire humanitarian crisis.

Petropoulos said almost 100,000 are wounded in the ongoing war and an unknown number of people – possibly in the thousands – remain under rubble across Gaza.

There are an estimated 430,000 people left in northern Gaza, Petropoulos said, and not many of those displaced are motivated to move south due to the lack of supplies all over.

The intensified bombardment and the advance of the Israeli forces means that around 50,000 people have been displaced in the last 24 hours from the northern communities of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalya, Petropoulos said.

Families of Israeli hostages sound 2-minute siren outside?Netanyahu’s?residence

Protesters march towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence, to mark one year since the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas, in Jerusalem, October 7.

Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have sounded a siren for two minutes outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem to urge him to bring back their loved ones, marking one year since they were kidnapped?by Hamas.

Following Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage, the families have campaigned relentlessly for the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would secure the release of their loved ones.

On Monday, the relatives spoke about the immense grief and trauma they have experienced, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Siegel’s mother, Aviva Siegel, was released after two months in captivity, but her father, Keith Siegel, remains a hostage.

“A year has passed since I imagined my parents coming home and us hugging. A year has passed, but it feels like one long day,” Siegel said.

Some relatives also expressed messages of hope and resilience.

“Omeri, my life. I miss you. I feel your absence with every breath, every moment in my body,” said Niva Wenkert, whose son Omer was kidnapped at the Nova music festival last year.

Israeli strike on Gaza refugee camp?kills 3 Palestinians

An Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza has killed three people and wounded several more, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society?(PRCS).

The wounded have been transferred to Al Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp, PRCS said.

The Israeli military said it struck multiple locations in Gaza overnight, describing them as?Hamas “targets and launchers.”

October 7 attack was?“a scar on humanity,” Israel’s president says

The President of Israel Isaac Herzog and his wife visit relatives of victims and attend the one year memorial ceremony at the Nova festival memorial to mark one the first anniversary since Hamas attacked one year ago, in Re’im, Israel, on October 7.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among those holding commemorations this morning at the Nova festival site, where he described the October 7 attacks as a “scar on the face of the Earth” and called for countries to support Israel.

Herzog also laid a wreath and lit memorial candles in honor of those killed at the site a year ago, accompanied by their bereaved families.

The atmosphere at the memorial site was somber as family members, friends of victims and survivors consoled each other.

Israeli strike targets hospital compound in central Gaza, wounding 11

An overnight Israeli drone strike on tents housing displaced Palestinians at a hospital compound?in Gaza has wounded 11 people, including children and journalists, according to a medical source at the facility.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas “command and control center” in an airstrike on the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital compound in Deir el?Balah, central Gaza.

The military said it took steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, “including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information.”

On Sunday, at least 21 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the nearby Al Aqsa Martyrs mosque, where displaced Palestinians were sheltering. Casualties from that?attack were evacuated to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas “command and control center.”

Israeli military tells Lebanese who evacuated not to return to homes until further notice

The Israeli military has called on “all residents of Lebanese villages who have evacuated their homes” not to return home “until further notice.”

Arabic spokesperson Avichay?Adraee?said that Israeli strikes are continuing.

Adraee?has been posting multiple messages daily warning residents of over 120 towns and villages throughout Lebanon, calling on them to leave their homes and evacuate.

Lebanese authorities say over?1.2 million people?have been displaced since fighting escalated last month. Many have been housed temporarily in schools across the country, or camped out on sidewalks, in parks, churches and mosques.

Israel’s kibbutz Be’eri became the symbol of Hamas’ brutality. Some survivors are determined to return

- Source: CNN " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/beeri-matthew-chance-thumb4.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/beeri-matthew-chance-thumb4.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="
" data-timestamp-html="
Updated 12:04 AM EDT, Tue October 8, 2024
" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-10-04T15:59:49.134Z" data-video-section="world" data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/06/world/video/kibbutz-visit-oct-7-israel-attack-ldn-digvid" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="kibbutz-visit-oct-7-israel-attack-ldn-digvid" data-first-publish-slug="kibbutz-visit-oct-7-israel-attack-ldn-digvid" data-video-tags="" data-details="">
Beeri_Matthew_Chance_THUMB4.jpg
CNN visits kibbutz where over 100 were killed in October 7th attack
04:21 - Source: CNN

Scorch marks and bullet holes scar the battered walls of the Haran family home in kibbutz Be’eri. Its tiled roof has caved in, windows smashed, littering the floors with sharp shards of terracotta and glass – the debris, still untouched, of a?day of horror?for Israel.

“This house tells the story of Be’eri,” says Yarden Tzemach, a farmer and surviving resident of the kibbutz, one of the Israeli communities near Gaza that was?overrun by Hamas militants?last year.

Outside, beneath the fruit trees in the back yard, a toddler’s ride-on toy car, adorned with stickers of Winnie the Pooh, sits amid the rubble, a stark reminder of the lives shattered here.

In some neighborhoods of Be’eri, barely a building was left intact. More than 100 of its 1,100 residents were killed and another 30 abducted to Gaza on October 7.

Home after home was burned out or reduced to rubble and – a year on – many remain as poignant monuments to an ongoing trauma. At least 10 residents of the kibbutz, all friends and neighbors of each other, are among the more than 100 Israelis believed to still be held hostage.

Nearly 100 residents to have so far returned, with some working to bring kibbutz Be’eri, formerly a self-sustaining farming community, back to life.

Read the full story.

Heartbroken families?recount horror of Nova festival attack on October 7 anniversary

The song that played as Hamas militants stormed the Nova music festival last year was replayed Monday during a memorial?for those?killed at the site in the October 7 attacks.

In an emotional moment for family and friends of those killed and kidnapped to Gaza, the track was played – and then stopped abruptly – at the same time as last year.

Many of those gathered at the memorial cried, hugged and comforted each other while recalling their loved ones’ final moments.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended the ceremony, speaking to families of those?murdered here and walking through the memorial field.

The family of Gabriel Barel — his three brothers, mother and best friend — huddled around a portrait of Barel planted amid hundreds of similar memorials.

Barel was 22 when he was killed at the festival. For weeks after the massacre, his family didn’t know what happened to him. He was shot while driving away from the site and the car was subsequently burned, which made identifying his remains extremely difficult.

His brother Yeoda Barel said Gabriel was not meant to go to the party.

“He didn’t have a ticket, but he managed to sneak in and danced all night,” he said.

Yeoda said Gabriel left the festival shortly after the first rockets were fired from Gaza, when he got a call from his mother in the city of Ashkelon.

Yeoda and Gabriel’s best friend from the military, Noam, said he was a fun-loving guy, always surrounded by friends and saving up for a big trip to South America.

To pay tribute to Gabriel’s outgoing personality, the group gathered around his portrait and took a selfie, smiling for the camera.

Analysis: How the October 7 attacks became a turning point for US politics

View of the White House in Washington, D.C., on October 3.

After rushing to comfort Israel as it grieved the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust,?US President Joe Biden?last year pledged America would stand with the country in its dark days and the good ones he insisted would come.

At the time, no one knew the international and domestic political consequences of his promise. An ensuing war has proved the existential role the US plays in Israel’s survival but also severely strained the alliance. It has also exposed and widened some of America’s most profound political divides ahead of an already tumultuous US election.

The October 7 attacks did not only transform the Middle East’s strategic balance as Israel confronted Hamas, then Hezbollah, and traded fire with their sponsor, its archenemy, Iran.?The horror set off a chain of events that affected countless lives, unleashing political disturbances thousands of miles away.

Militarily, the United States and its allies have twice staged unprecedented operations to protect Israel from a barrage of missiles and drones from Iran. The US has also repeatedly bombed Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who have launched attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea in the wake of October 7.

Israel’s onslaught on Hamas in Gaza, which has killed?tens of thousands of civilians, may have finally shattered US hopes of a two-state solution. And it’s turned into the greatest foreign crisis of the Biden administration.

Read the full analysis.

Children face “scars of war” in Lebanon, UNICEF says

Children in Lebanon are suffering severe injuries from strikes and shrapnel, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children agency said Monday, as Israel’s war with Hezbollah intensifies.

“The toll of this conflict has escalated in recent weeks and is really, really taking a tremendous toll on the children here… in terms of the numbers killed and injured but also displaced,” UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram told CNN’s Michael Holmes.

Ingram said the most common injuries were shrapnel wounds, and some children have also suffered brain injuries, concussions and limb injuries from being thrown by blasts. Children are also experiencing anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks.

Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah have killed more than 1,400 people in Lebanon in recent weeks, according to its health ministry, and created a?humanitarian crisis.

UNICEF says more than 690 children have been wounded in Lebanon as the conflict escalated in the last six weeks, and?more than 400,000 children have been displaced from their homes as families try to flee from strikes.

Lebanese authorities say over 1.2 million people have been displaced since fighting escalated last month. Many have been housed temporarily in schools across the country.

“We need them to come home”: mother of hostage urges for resolution

Idit Ohel, mother of Israeli-Serbian citizen Alon Ohel, who is being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas, holds the portrait of her son during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on September 11.

Idit Ohel, mother of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, said she was out walking the dog on the morning of October 7 when her family began to realize that something had happened at the Nova music festival.

At around 8 a.m. her son sent a message saying he was in a bomb shelter but was fine. A few hours later, they received a phone call saying he was sent to a hospital. But when her husband arrived there, they received news that Alon had been kidnapped alive and taken to Gaza.

Ohel told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga “what Hamas did is not human,” and urged governments around the world to help rescue hostages still held in Gaza.

Ohel said her son “was the glue” that brought her family together, and said he loved music and playing the piano.

“He just loves life,” Ohel said of her son. “He came back home, a month and a half before he was kidnapped, from traveling over Asia. And in meeting people and finding interesting, different kinds of food.”

Fighting continues in the Middle East one year after October 7. Here's what to know

Family members and friends of the lost and kidnapped gather at the site of the Nova Festival to mark the one year anniversary of the attacks by Hamas, in Re'im, Israel on October 7.

Fighting continues in the Middle East on the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, with commemorations planned across Israel and around the world.

Hezbollah struck the northern Israeli city of Haifa for what appeared to be the first time in its ongoing conflict with Israel. Beirut has seen some of the?most intense bombing by Israel in its war against Hezbollah, which has further escalated the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.

Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran for last week’s missile barrage, and its military has launched a new offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza, forcing hundreds of Palestinians to flee.

Here are the latest developments in the region:

  • October 7 anniversary:?The Israeli military has?reinforced soldiers near the Gaza Strip?ahead of the ceremonial events that will mark one year since the Hamas attacks. Additional troops have been deployed at border communities for both “defensive and offensive scenarios,” according to a statement by the IDF.
  • Demonstrations, marches and memorials?continue to be held after a weekend of events both mourning the attacks’ victims and demanding an end to the war. Hundreds of people are gathering at the site of Nova Music Festival in southern Israel today, where one year ago 347 people were murdered by Hamas and 40 others taken hostage.
  • Israel’s retaliation against Iran:?Israel is closely coordinating with the United States as it prepares to strike back at Iran but will make its own, independent decisions about how to retaliate, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN. Even as the US has made clear it opposes a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Gallant said Israel has not ruled out any of its options.?“Everything is on the table,” Gallant said.
  • Strikes on Haifa: At least five people were injured in Haifa Sunday following a Hezbollah rocket attack that appeared to mark the first time the militant group struck the northern Israeli city during this conflict. The IDF said it had spotted five projectiles heading toward the city and tried to intercept them, but several landed.
  • Escalating humanitarian crisis in Lebanon: Israel has now issued evacuation order for 124 Lebanese villages as it carries out an unprecedented bombing campaign on southern Lebanon. More than 1,400 people have been killed and over 1 million displaced by the Israeli campaign, according to the Lebanese government.
  • The latest from Gaza:?Israel’s military says it has encircled?Jabalya?in northern Gaza?and launched a new ground operation after seeing signs of Hamas rebuilding there. Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes?targeted a school and mosque?being used as shelters in central Gaza where it claimed Hamas was operating, killing at least 25 people and overwhelming a nearby hospital.
  • Lebanon delays start of school year:?Lebanon has?postponed the start of the school year?until November 2 as a protective measure amid the escalating fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Some 400,000 students and 40,000 teachers have been displaced from their homes across the country following the fighting, Lebanon’s education minister said.

“It’s still unimaginable”: co-founder of Nova music festival tells CNN

An October 10 aerial photo shows the abandoned site of the attack on the Nova music festival by Hamas militants in southern Israel. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Everything changed at 6:29 a.m. on October 7 last year at the Nova music festival in the Negev desert, said event co-founder Ofir Amir.

“A year has passed but we still feel like we are on October 7, (like) it was just a long day that never ends,” Amir told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga from Israel.

“It’s still unimaginable what happened on that day.”

Amir, who was shot in both legs, was among the last people to leave the festival site.

Hamas fighters killed 347 people and took others hostage at the festival on October 7 last year, according to the Israeli military.

Also speaking to CNN, Yariv Mozer, director of “We Will Dance Again” — a documentary on the festival attack — said it was important to chronicle how the events unfolded, minute-by-minute, using footage from survivors and videos taken by Hamas fighters as evidence of the brutality they faced that day.

"He was the glue of our family": Nova festival survivor pays tribute to slain cousin

Friends and family members of Mor Meir Trabalsi gathered at the site of the Nova Music Festival.

Hundreds of family members and friends are gathering for a ceremony honoring those killed in Hamas’ attack at the site of the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel on October 7.

Danielle Cohen, whose cousin Mor Meir Trabalsi was murdered while trying to escape the attack, attended alongside several friends and family members. The group, all wearing blue t-shirts with Trabalsi’s name and photograph printed on them, gathered at a small memorial to honor him, one of hundreds erected on the site.

Trabalsi was shot dead while driving his wife and friends away from the festival. He told everyone in the car to duck down and kept going — likely saving their lives while losing his.

The survivors, including his new wife, were trapped in the car with Trabalsi’s body for about five hours before the Israeli army rescued them, Cohen said.

Cohen said Trabalsi’s wedding was the biggest she’s ever been to, with more than 800 people attending.

“It’s unusual for Israeli weddings to be that big, but Mor had more friends than people I know in my life. He was that person that is always surrounded by friends, and everybody wanted to be his friend,” she said, a tear rolling down her face.

“Looking back, the wedding was like a big farewell party for him.”

Dawn breaks in Israel on anniversary of Hamas attacks

The scene at the Nova music festival memorial near?Re’im in southern Israel on Monday, October 7, 2024.

At just after 5:30 a.m. in Israel, people began gathering at the site of the Nova Music Festival, where Hamas militants murdered 347 people and took 40 others hostage on October 7 last year.

The event Monday in the Negev desert is the first of several gatherings to mark the one-year anniversary of the attacks that killed more than 1,200 people, saw more than 250 taken hostage and triggered Israel’s devastating war in Gaza.

While the atmosphere at the memorial site is somber,?reminders of the conflict are ever present. Just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Gaza perimeter, the sound of outgoing artillery rounds echoes through the quiet morning every few minutes as the sun begins to rise.

Tributes to those killed in last year's Hamas attacks at the Nova music festival memorial near?Re’im in southern Israel on October 7, 2024.

Hezbollah rocket attack wounds at least 5 in northern Israeli city of Haifa, hospital says

- Source: CNN " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/still-21019407-196114-34600000002-still.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/still-21019407-196114-34600000002-still.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="
By Jonathan Steinmetz, CNN
" data-timestamp-html="
Updated 12:04 AM EDT, Tue October 8, 2024
" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-10-06T23:08:31.497Z" data-video-section="world" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="dlevid-haifa-strike-aftermath" data-first-publish-slug="dlevid-haifa-strike-aftermath" data-video-tags="" data-details="">
still_21019407_196114.34600000002_still.jpg
Video shows aftermath of missile strike in Haifa, Israel
00:44 - Source: CNN

At least five people were wounded in Haifa on Sunday following a Hezbollah rocket attack that appeared to mark the first time the Iran-backed militant group has struck the northern Israeli city in its ongoing conflict with Israel.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it launched the rockets at Israel’s Carmel military base, while Israeli authorities reported rockets and shrapnel dropping around the city.

Haifa’s Rambam Hospital said it was treating six people who were impacted by the attack. One person was “lightly to moderately injured” and four others were “lightly injured” due to shrapnel, it said. A sixth person was being treated for anxiety, it added.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said it treated two people at the scene — a 13-year-old boy with a head injury caused by shrapnel and a 22-year-old man who was hit by a window that fell due to the blast.

Debris and shrapnel were reported by police and bomb disposal experts in two primary areas, according to the police.

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier that it had spotted five?projectiles fired toward the city and tried to intercept them, but several of the rockets landed.

Israeli officials say Hezbollah?fired more than 100 rockets?across the border Sunday. Israel continued with its?extensive bombing campaign?on southern Beirut and surrounding areas in Lebanon, which has killed more than 1,400 people over the past two weeks, according to Lebanese authorities.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

Weekend demonstrations marked anniversary of October 7 attacks

A long roll of paper containing the names of people killed in the Israeli occupation is seen carried by protesters in Plaza de Catalunya during the rally in Barcelona, Spain, on October 6.

There were demonstrations, marches and memorials across the world this weekend ahead of the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel.

Large crowds marched through the streets of Barcelona, Jakarta, Sydney, and other cities on Sunday, marking a year since the attacks, which killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry there, and created a dire humanitarian crisis.

Miguel Verdugo, a 72-year-old protester in Barcelona, told Reuters: “We must express that we are against genocide. The least we should all do is protest in every capital city around the world.”

There were tributes and memorials for the victims of the Hamas attacks in cities across the world.

Events were held in Berlin, Paris, London and Israel on Sunday, while the Pope led a prayer for peace at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

In Berlin, hundreds of people rallied under the slogan, “United against the crimes of Hamas against Israelis and Palestinians,” Reuters reported.

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal spoke at the Berlin event, saying of the October 7 victims:

In Tel Aviv, Thousands gathered for a?vigil marking the anniversary, where loved ones mourned victims and survivors shared their stories. Protesters are?urging Israel’s government?to secure a deal to free the remaining hostages.

Israeli military says it increased troops near Gaza border ahead of October 7 anniversary

The Israeli military has reinforced soldiers near Gaza ahead of the ceremonial events marking one year since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks into southern Israel.

Additional troops have been deployed at border communities for both “defensive and offensive scenarios,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday.

“The soldiers are fully equipped to defend the region in coordination with local security forces, the Israel Police, and Magen David Adom, ensuring a comprehensive response to any incidents that may arise,” the IDF said.

How the war between Israel and Hezbollah escalated last week

A week before Israel marked the anniversary of the Hamas attacks, Israel launched a?limited ground incursion?into southern Lebanon as it ratcheted up its war with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

For the first time since 2006, Israel?struck central Beirut, with previous attacks being confined to the city’s southern suburbs. Israel is now pounding Lebanon with a level of bombardment?not seen outside of Gaza in the last 20 years, according to air warfare experts.

The dramatic escalation in the Middle East suggests?fears of an expanded regional war?have been realized.

Those fears have only been deepened by?Iran’s largest-ever missile attack on Israel?— which also came last week. The region is?bracing for Israel’s response, and Tehran has already pledged it will attack Israel again if it deems that necessary.

Here’s a timeline of last week’s key events:

  • Monday:?Israel launches a ground incursion across Lebanon’s southern border, targeting Hezbollah. Israeli officials characterized the offensive as limited in scope, saying there will be “no long-term occupation,” although officials have declined to say how deep Israeli troops will push into the country or how long the operation will last.
  • Tuesday:?Iran launches around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, in what it said was a response to the Israeli?assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel has vowed to respond.
  • Wednesday:?The Israeli military gives evacuation warnings for the residents of two dozen villages in southwest Lebanon to move around 31 miles further into the country. The Israel Defense Forces later expanded this — at least 124 villages in southern Lebanon have now been issued evacuation?notices, stoking fears of an expanded ground invasion.
  • Thursday:?An Israeli strike hits central Beirut for the first time since 2006. Previous Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital had been on its southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. This strike hit the neighborhood of Bashoura, near the city’s downtown. Of the nine killed, seven were medics working for the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Authority.
  • Friday:?Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, gives a rare speech. Khamenei described Tehran’s missile strikes on Israel as “fully legal and legitimate” and warned that Iran will attack Israel again if necessary. Israeli strikes on Beirut overnight target Hezbollah’s potential new leader, Hashem Safieddine. A Lebanese security source later told CNN that Hezbollah has lost contact with Safieddine since the Israeli attack.
  • Saturday:?A leader of Hamas’ military wing in Lebanon is killed in?a rare Israeli airstrike?near the country’s northernmost city of Tripoli. Israel also carried out?more airstrikes?on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
  • Sunday:?The Israeli military intensifies its campaign on two fronts on the eve of the October 7 anniversary, marking the Hamas attack that triggered its war in Gaza. It launched a new ground operation in northern Gaza, where it says it saw signs of Hamas regrouping, and pounds southern Beirut and surrounding areas in some of the?most intense bombing?in Israel’s current campaign against Hezbollah.