Israel marks one year since Hamas attack

Israel’s military said it carried out airstrikes Monday targeting Hamas positions throughout the Gaza Strip, one year after a Hamas attack on southern Israel sparked a war that includes fighting in Lebanon and concerns about a regional conflict.

The targets included Hamas rocket-launching positions. Hamas said Monday it fired rockets at Tel Aviv, Israel’s second-largest city, as well as areas near several border crossings in southern Israel.

Israel reported air raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and in central Israel in response to projectiles that were fired from Gaza.

The Israeli military also said it struck targets used by the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, including attacks on Beirut, parts of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Hezbollah rockets hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa where Israeli media said at least 10 people were injured.

Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military base south of Haifa.

The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden would mark the anniversary of the attacks Monday, including with a candle lighting.

Biden said in a statement early Monday that October 7 will be remembered “as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day.”

“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,” Biden said. “Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity, and peace.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that Israel will ensure its people can return safely to their homes and that everything possible will be done to ensure hostages held in Gaza return home.

“Today more than ever, we carry a deep commitment to continue taking every measure necessary to defeat our enemies and to defend our homeland,” Gallant said in a statement.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s self-defense in a phone call Sunday with Gallant, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Austin “reiterated unwavering U.S. commitment to Israel’s security, a ceasefire in Gaza, and a diplomatic resolution that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday the past year has been a time of “unimaginable suffering,” and that the Hamas attack “foreshadowed the devastation brought on by the Israeli response.”

OCHA cited the treatment of hostages in Gaza, who have been subjected to reported sexual violence and denied access to humanitarian aid, and the displacement of Israeli communities to the threat of rocket fire.

In Gaza, the agency said Israeli military operations have exacerbated effects of an Israeli sea and land blockade imposed in 2007, resulting in “a catastrophe.” The war has displaced nearly all of Gaza’s population, with many people being forced to move multiple times, OCHA said.

The agency also said more than 300 aid workers have been killed in Gaza during the past year.

“No statistics or words can fully convey the extent of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has taken place,” said Joyce Msuya, acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. “But we know what must happen: The hostages must be released and treated humanely. Civilians must be protected and their essential needs met. Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be released. Humanitarian workers must be safeguarded and their work facilitated. Perpetrators must be held accountable for any serious violations of international humanitarian law. And the assault on Gaza must stop.”

Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in their October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. They also took about 250 people hostage, with around 100 still being held and about one-third of those believed to be dead.

Israel’s military campaign of air and ground attacks has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 97,000, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The ministry does not say how many of the dead were militants, but has said just more than half were women and children.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terror organizations by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.