Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday October 7 that Israel had an obligation to bring back its hostages. He said this during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil. “On this day, in this place and in many places in our country, we remember our dead, our hostages – whom we are obliged to bring back, and our heroes who fell in defense of the homeland and the country”declared Benjamin Netanyahu during this ceremony in Jerusalem. Sfollow our live stream.
“France is unfailingly attached” to Israel’s security, assures Jean-Noël Barrot. From Réïm, in the south of Israel, Jean-Noël Barrot sent his thoughts to the victims of the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. “Today (…), France cries alongside Israel, our compatriots” killed, reacted the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. “France will never stop demanding the unconditional release of the hostages (…). France is unfailingly attached” to the security of Israel, he added. He is due to meet his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz in the morning, before going to Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.
“The pain remains, as acute as it was a year ago,” declared Emmanuel Macron. In a message published on X Monday morning, the head of state evokes the pain “of the Israeli people”, “ours” but also “that of wounded humanity”. In a press release, the Minister of National Education, Anne Genetet, asks the rectors “maximum vigilance with increased attention to the security and proper functioning of schools and educational establishments”for this October 7.
The Pope castigates the “shameful incapacity” of the great powers in the Middle East. “A year ago, the fuse of hatred was lit. It did not go out, but ignited in a spiral of violence” made possible by “the shameful inability of the international community and the most powerful countries to silence the guns and end the tragedy of war”wrote the sovereign pontiff in a letter to Catholics in the Middle East.
A minute of silence observed in Israel. Across the country, Israelis held a minute of silence at 6:29 a.m. (5:29 a.m. Paris time) Monday morning to honor the 1,200 dead. It was at this precise hour that thousands of Hamas terrorists crossed the barrier between Gaza and Israel, supposedly impassable. “The world must realize and understand that to change the course of history and bring peace and a better future to the region, he must support Israel in its fight against its enemies.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement.
From Sydney to Paris, from Buenos Aires to New York, commemorations all over the world. At 8 p.m., the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) organizes a ceremony in support of the hostages, at the Dôme de Paris, en presence of several ministers and the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier. Some 4,000 people are expected. In Nice, the commemorations will take place from 11:30 a.m. on Castle Hill. In Marseille, a silent march is organized at 6 p.m., Place du Général-de-Gaulle. Finally, in Lyon, Place Bellecour will host a ceremony organized by Crif from 6 p.m.