Israelis commemorate victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2026. (Credit: Ilia Yefimovich/AFP)
Today’s news
Israel is commemorating on Wednesday the victims of the Hamas attack three years ago, on Oct. 7, 2023, the deadliest day in the country’s history, for which security failures have yet to be the subject of an independent inquiry. Several ceremonies are being held throughout the day at various locations that saw assaults and massacres by the Palestinian movement, in honor of the victims of this unprecedented attack that resulted in 1,221 deaths, according to an AFP count. That day, 251 people were also kidnapped and taken to Gaza, including 44 bodies.
In the Palestinian enclave, bombarded for the past three years by the Israeli army and despite a cease-fire in effect for almost a year, two people were killed in strikes this morning. Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital reported two people killed in a strike. Civil defense identified one as a volunteer with the agency.
In addition to the tributes in Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas commemorated the attack, referred to as the "al-Aqsa Flood" by the "axis of resistance." The pro-Iranian Lebanese party denounced the genocide committed by Israel in the enclave, while criticizing the "complacency" of Middle Eastern leaders toward Israel. For its part, the Palestinian movement called Oct. 7 a “heroic battle” that made “the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people” heard around the world.
Why it matters
The Oct. 7, 2023 attack marked a major turning point for Israel and the region, after which the Jewish state responded with massive strikes on Gaza, killing more than 74,200 people, and launched a devastating offensive against Hezbollah after a "solidarity front" opened from southern Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023. Since then, Israel’s attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 9,000 people. These fronts, along with those in the West Bank, Yemen, and Iran that were opened in the aftermath, have put Israel on high alert, and Israeli authorities reported Tuesday they had intelligence on possible new Hamas attacks on their forces. In Lebanon, fears are also mounting of a further escalation.
These commemorations also come in the middle of an election campaign, with legislative elections set for Israel on Oct. 27 — the first since Oct. 7 — and are the first since the cease-fire in Gaza, which took effect on Oct. 11, 2025. Ahead of the vote, calls continue in Israel to establish an independent commission of inquiry into the security failings that marked that day.
What to watch for
Yemeni Houthi rebels have claimed new missile and drone attacks on the airport in the Saudi capital, which were intercepted according to Riyadh, which is also trying to counter these pro-Iranian fighters in neighboring Yemen. The Iran-linked Houthis also bombed Aden airport, the seat of the internationally recognized government, according to the state-run Saba agency on Wednesday, amid intensifying hostilities between the two sides.
The conflict between the Houthis, who have controlled the Yemeni capital Sanaa and much of the country for over a decade, and the internationally recognized, Riyadh-backed government, flared up again in July after years of calm, becoming the new front in the Middle East war. In September, a rapid Houthi offensive allowed them to seize the entire Yemeni Red Sea coastline and strengthen their grip on the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal. Government forces, backed by Saudi warplanes, launched a counter-offensive last weekend, claiming “victories on several fronts,” especially on the Red Sea coast. But the Houthis deny these gains.
Elsewhere in the news
- Iran-U.S. war: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated during an official visit to Athens that “Iran has lost full control” of the Strait of Hormuz. The previous day, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said in a Reuters interview that Iran must “significantly” reduce its nuclear enrichment capacity to meet U.S. demands and bring an end to the seven-month-old war between the two countries, while acknowledging difficulty in understanding how decisions are made in Tehran.
- Southern Lebanon: Israeli attacks continue on the “buffer zone” occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon, including overnight strikes on the strategic Wadi Slouqi valley and artillery and machine gun fire on several areas.
- Electricity in Lebanon: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received Energy Minister Joe Saddi to discuss his motives for boycotting any future Cabinet sessions. Saddi announced yesterday that he would no longer attend government meetings, though he would continue his other ministerial duties, to protest the 2027 budget draft approved last Thursday and amid growing public outcry over the management of the electricity sector.
- High school student anger in France: The day after a major protest in the streets across France, classes resumed at most high schools, although some blockades persisted, after a government attempt to calm unrest by proposing a half-day session devoted to discussions on students’ challenges.
- West Bank: An AFP photojournalist was injured last night by Israeli settlers who beat him and fired shots at him while he was reporting in the occupied West Bank. Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a 58-year-old veteran Palestinian photographer, was injured in the head and chest and taken to the hospital by ambulance, according to his colleague John Wessels, AFP’s Israel and Palestinian Territories photo chief, who was with him at the time of the attack.
- Attempted flydubai flight attack: At least 1,240 airline crew members from states with no diplomatic relations with Israel, including Lebanon, Syria and Oman, landed in the country in 2026, according to information disclosed at a meeting of an Israeli parliamentary committee and obtained by Haaretz.
Iran has 'lost complete control' of Hormuz Strait, Rubio says