Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed his country's determination to fight in a video message during the official commemoration of the October 7 massacre's anniversary on Monday.
"Together we will continue to fight, and together - with God's grace - we will triumph," he said in a video message. The ceremony took place in Ofakim, near the Gaza Strip, where 40 people were murdered a year ago.
He stated that October 7, when the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement and other extremists killed around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted about 250 others to the Gaza Strip, was "a day of indescribable suffering for the country."
Netanyahu asserted that Israelis had united for the defence of the country.
"We have set the war objectives and we are achieving them," he said. He said these objectives were to dismantle Hamas' rule, bring all hostages home, make any future threat from the Gaza Strip impossible, and ensure the safe return of residents from the south and north to their homes.
However, after a year of war with nearly 42,000 dead in the Gaza Strip and growing international criticism of Israel's harsh actions in the coastal strip - and now also in Lebanon - none of the war objectives mentioned by Netanyahu have been completely achieved so far.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the world to support Israel in the fight against its enemies, as he spoke during a ceremony to mark exactly one year since the terrorist attacks.
'Time is running out'
In Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, a plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Art Museum where relatives and supporters of those kidnapped have gathered to press for their release, a display board marked how many days had passed since the attack.
Michal Mayo, whose cousin Doron Steinbrecher is among the estimated 100 people still being held in Gaza, came out again on Monday.
"Doron was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza," she said. "She was so brave. During her abduction, she wrote WhatsApp messages - 'They have me! They have me!' - so we found out that she had been kidnapped."
Sometime in January, Mayo continued, Hamas released a propaganda video showing Steinbrecher on her 107th day of captivity.
"She looked terrible," said Mayo. "You could see that she was suffering, that she was emaciated, that her skin looked unhealthy. Since then, there has been no sign of life from her."
"Time is running out," she said, adding that every report of a hostage murdered in Hamas captivity is a blow for her and the family of other hostages, who are all hoping to get their loved ones back alive.
Biden: 'Unspeakable brutality'
US President Joe Biden was among the leaders from around the world who joined in commemorating the attacks.
"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," Biden said in a statement.
"The October 7th attack brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people," he said.
"One year later, Vice President [Kamala] Harris and I remain fully committed to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist."
"Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people."
A year of war
The October 7 attacks provoked the massive Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and a subsequent ground invasion.
Over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the local health authorities, which are controlled by Hamas. Most of these are civilians, although this figure does not distinguish between civilians and militants.
Tensions have since rocketed and brought the Middle East region to the brink of a wider conflict.
The October 7 attacks were a massive shock to Israel, with many in the country feeling deprived of a previous sense of security.
Some relatives of the hostages, however, fear that the fate of those abducted has taken a back seat to waging war on Israel's enemies. It appears doubtful that Israeli military force can succeed in freeing the hostages by destroying Hamas.
While the nation unites in mourning, Israel is nevertheless divided when it comes to finding a way out of the conflict and bringing the remaining hostages in Gaza home.
People gathered in Tel Aviv's Jarkon Park on Monday wept, held each other and raised photos of loved ones killed or abducted. Balloons were released for the hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Thousands repeatedly shouted the word "achshav," which means "now" in Hebrew and stands for the demand for the immediate release of the abductees.
But there were repeated demands for an investigation into how the Israeli security forces failed to prevent the attacks, and angry accusations that Netanyahu has sabotaged Gaza ceasefire talks and done too little to secure the release of the hostages.
Worldwide sorrow at Middle East deaths
The United Nations on Monday described the past year in the broader Middle East as an "unrelenting tragedy."
"No statistics or words can fully convey the extent of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has taken place," Joyce Msuya, the acting head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that "our hearts are also with the Jewish communities across the world."
"On this tragic anniversary, I want to honour the memories of the victims," she said in a written statement, adding that the EU "stands with all the innocent people whose lives have been shattered to the core since that fateful day."
Hamas' attack "brought immense suffering not only upon the people of Israel, but also upon innocent Palestinians."
The European Parliament held a minute's silence in Strasbourg to mark the anniversary.
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