Summary

  • Israelis are marking three years since the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage

  • Memorial events are taking place across Israel, and began with a nationwide minute's silence at 06:29 local time (04:29 BST) to mark the time the attacks started

  • At kibbutz Kfar Aza, the widow of one victim tells our correspondent of the moment her husband stopped answering his phone: "After that, I only know things from stories"

  • People are also visiting the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 360 people were killed and dozens taken hostage

  • Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza in response to the 7 October attacks, in which more than 74,200 people have since been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry

  • Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza to report freely

Live Reporting

Edited by Kieran Kelly and Owen Amos, with reporting from Lucy Williamson in southern Israel

  1. Across Israel, people remember those killed on 7 October

    Israelis are comforting each other at memorial events across Israel, as they remember those killed in the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October.

    Three years ago, about 1,200 people were killed, and 251 taken hostage, in the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

    In Tel Aviv, drivers stopped their cars to observe the minute's silenceGetty Images

    In Tel Aviv, drivers stopped their cars to observe the minute's silence

    Two people embrace near a field of fake red poppies.Reuters

    Two people embrace near a memorial of red anemone sculptures. The flowers tend to bloom in nearby Reim forest

    A person crying with their hands clenched near their mouth as another person wraps their arm around them.Reuters

    People react as they visit the site of the Nova music festival, where at least 360 people were killed

    Two people hug as sunlights hits them with others standing by near a tree with a memorial picture below itReuters

    Two people embrace as the sun rises over Kfar Aza

  2. Palestinians believe the threat of displacement from Gaza remains real

    Rushdi Abualouf
    Gaza correspondent

    Damaged buildings in Gaza City, as seen in 28 SeptemberReuters

    Damaged buildings in Gaza City, as seen on 28 September

    Three years after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, the overriding fear among many Palestinians I have spoken to is no longer simply about how the war will end.

    It is about whether Gaza’s Palestinians will ultimately be able to remain on their land.

    Over recent weeks, I have spoken to officials from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, as well as figures from across the Palestinian political spectrum.

    Despite their deep divisions, there is an unusual degree of agreement on one issue: they believe the threat of large-scale displacement from Gaza remains real.

    They also agree that Palestinians currently lack either the military or political means to prevent such a scenario if it were to unfold.

    That fear has become one of the defining features of Gaza three years after 7 October.

    The territory Palestinians inhabit today bears little resemblance to the Gaza that existed before the war. Large parts have been devastated.

    Much of the population remains displaced, many living in tents and makeshift shelters, while access to food, clean water and medical treatment remains severely restricted.

  3. Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza in wake of attack

    Tents as far as the eye can sea in a dusty landscape with the sea in the distanceGetty Images

    Displaced Palestinians’ tents are seen in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip

    In the wake of the 7 October attack, Israel launched an extensive military offensive in Gaza, displacing more than a million people and killing tens of thousands.

    According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, at least 74,200 people have been in killed in Gaza by Israel since the action began.

    The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian needs in Gaza remain "overwhelming", with many struggling to access water, food and medicine.

    An estimated 80% of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN.

    More than 1.9 million people - about 90% of the territory's population - have been displaced, many of them multiple times, and 1.2 million of them are currently living in tents or makeshift shelters, it says.

    Last year, the world's leading association of genocide scholars declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has regularly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as a means of self-defence.

    A ceasefire came into effect last October, though Israeli airstrikes and attacks on populated areas have continued.

  4. 'I get a message saying he loves me'

    Lucy Williamson
    Middle East correspondent

    The widow of the deputy commander of Kfar Aza's civil defence unit, who was killed by Hamas gunmen three years ago, describes the moment he stopped answering his phone.

    “My stomach flips and I start to worry,” she says as her voice begins to break with tears.

    “At 7:21, I get a message saying he loves me,” she continues. “It’s the best present I ever got.”

    “After that, I only know things from stories.”

  5. Names of victims read aloud at Kfar Aza

    Lucy Williamson
    Middle East correspondent

    As the sky began to lighten over Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel attacked by Hamas, people trickled in twos and threes towards the armoury building.

    The cawing of crows cuts through the regular thud of artillery from Gaza, just a few kilometres away, and the buzz of a military drone overhead.

    In the gloom, a small crowd of residents gathered at the armoury where seven members of the kibbutz’s civil defence unit were attacked and killed by Hamas gunmen that morning.

    At 06:29 (04:29 BST), the flag was lowered to half-mast to the sound of a lone bugle, and their names read aloud.

    A young woman stood apart from the crowd, crying quietly.

    People gathered at a ceremony with some sitting in white plastic chairs and speakers next to an Israeli flagLucy Williamson/BBC

  6. Dawn breaks in Israel on third anniversary of Hamas attacks

    People are visiting memorials at the site of the Nova music festival where more than 360 people were killed and dozens taken hostage in the Hamas attacks on October 7 2023.

    Two people hug each other at a memorial site of the Nova music festival.Reuters
    A man kissing a memorial plaque in the dark surrounded by other plaques.Reuters
    A woman hugs a sign at a memorial at the site of the Nova music festival.Reuters

  7. What happened to the 251 hostages captured by Hamas?

    On 7 October 2023, 251 hostages were captured during the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

    Of these, 168 were freed or rescued, while 83 were killed.

    The Israeli military retrieved the body of the last hostage in Gaza, Master Sgt Ran Gvili, in January 2026.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We promised - and I promised - to bring everyone back. We brought them all back, down to the very last captive."

    Once Gvili's body was returned, a former Israeli hostage who was held for nearly 500 days in Gaza told the BBC that the released captives can "now breathe and start our lives again".

    British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy, after being released from Gaza in January 2025.Reuters

    British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy, after being released from Gaza in January 2025. She was dragged from her home in southern Israel during Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack

  8. Events taking place throughout day in Israel

    A number of events are taking place in Israel today, as it marks three years since the deadliest terror attack in its history.

    At 06:29 (04:29 BST) - the time Hamas launched its attack three years ago - there will be a national minute's silence. There will also be a memorial at Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near Gaza that was attacked.

    Further ceremonies will take place throughout the day, including at Reim - the site of the Nova music festival where more than 360 people were killed, and dozens taken hostage.

    Members of the kibbutz community of Kfar Aza observe a moment's silence during last year's commemorationsReuters

    Members of the kibbutz community of Kfar Aza observe a moment's silence during last year's commemorations

  9. Israelis remember 7 October attacks, three years on

    A man and woman hug in a memorial site which includes signposts of numerous victims of the 7 October Hamas attacks at the Nova music festivalEPA/Shutterstock

    People visited the memorial site near Kibbutz Re'im on Sunday

    Israel is today marking three years since Hamas's attacks on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 more taken hostage.

    Israel responded to the deadliest attacks on Jews since the Holocaust by launching an extensive military offensive in Gaza which has killed at least 74,200 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

    Hamas and Israel agreed to halt the war in October last year as part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan, including the suspension of "all military operations" and Hamas handing over the last of the hostages.

    Gaza's health ministry says more than 1,460 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in the territory since the ceasefire was declared. The Israeli military says it is pursuing Hamas commanders or terrorists.

    Multiple memorial events have been planned across Israel to commemorate the 7 October attacks, including at the site of the Nova music festival where hundreds were killed and taken hostage.

    Stay with us for updates on events in Israel and across the world, alongside reporting from our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell.