Israelis marked the anniversary on Thursday in several spots across the country, including at the scene of a music festival where at least 364 people were killed and 40 taken hostage. Other people marked it at bomb shelters along the roads in the south where their relatives were killed as they tried to flee the Hamas onslaught.
“Today we mark 1,000 days, 1,000 days since the terrible day when our world collapsed, the day we lost our loved ones,” said Yoram Yehudai, whose son Ron was killed at the festival. "We are here at the Nova site, behind me was the party area itself. Children who came to dance and celebrate went home in coffins.”
Dozens of protesters gathered near the Israeli parliament, demanding the government establish a state commission of inquiry into the attack.
The top diplomat overseeing the ceasefire, Nickolay Mladenov, has made it clear: The next steps in implementing the U.S.-brokered deal are stalled over the demand that the Hamas terrorists must disarm.
This has been a high-profile test of the Board of Peace created and led by U.S. President Donald Trump. Launched with fanfare and billions of dollars in international pledges earlier this year with the sole aim of Gaza’s recovery from war, the board now says little publicly.
Hamas' disarmament would open the way for other steps, including new administration of Gaza and the deployment of an international stabilization force to assist with security and reconstruction efforts.
