Israel marks 1,000 days since October 7 attack as protesters demand state inquiry into security failure

Commemorations and protests

Memorial events began at 6:29 a.m., the exact time the attack started, with a one-minute silence observed at over 50 hubs across Israel. The main rally took place at Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, recently renamed Memorial Square, where families of victims and hostages addressed the crowd. Protesters later blocked the main Tel Aviv highway, and some gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem holding signs that read "1,000 days of abandonment, negligence, cover-up and failure."

A thousand days after the event, we are still in the middle of it. What could have been done to turn the page has not been done: a real commission of inquiry, real accountability, conclusions drawn for good.

Demands for a state inquiry

The October Council, an umbrella group of about 1,500 families of victims and hostages, is leading the call for an independent state commission of inquiry. Under Israeli law, such a commission must be appointed by the president of the Supreme Court, not by politicians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instead proposed a "special" commission chosen by lawmakers, a move critics say would shield him from scrutiny.

One thousand days and you learned nothing, but how could you learn when you continue to oppose a state commission of inquiry? And not only do you oppose investigating the truth, but you work non-stop to distort and whitewash the truth.

Netanyahu under pressure

Netanyahu, who faces re-election in October, has not accepted personal responsibility for the security lapse. Opposition figures accuse him of allowing Hamas to entrench itself in Gaza and receive hundreds of millions of dollars from Qatar over the years. At a ceremony at the presidential residence, President Yitzhak Herzog called the day "a milestone that reminds us of Israel's ability to emerge from crisis and unimaginable pain."

Despite the unimaginable suffering that we have gone through, we have received nothing but alienation, lies, incitement and desertion for 1,000 days. This desertion is manifested by attempts to cover up failures and create an alternative narrative that absolves Netanyahu from responsibility.

The toll in Gaza

The Hamas attack killed between 1,200 and 1,221 people, according to Israeli official tallies, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 73,000 people in the enclave, according to Gaza's health ministry. A UN commission of inquiry has accused Israel of deliberately targeting children, amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

A nation divided

A ceasefire has been in place since October 2025, but Netanyahu's government plans to expand the security zone to cover 70% of Gaza, a move the UN warns will intensify risks to civilians and further constrain humanitarian efforts. The 1,000-day milestone has laid bare deep divisions in Israeli society, with protesters vowing to continue until a state inquiry is established and the current government leaves office.