Israel falls silent to mark one month since Hamas attacks

At Jerusalem’s Hebrew University around 1000 people observed a minute of silence and recited prayers for the 1400 killed.

The plight of hostages dominated the moment of silence in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night. Picture: Getty Images

Quiet sobs during memorial speeches, mourning crowds lighting candles … Israel fell silent briefly on Tuesday, marking one month since the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7 plunged it into war.

At Jerusalem’s Hebrew University about 1000 people observed a minute’s silence and recited prayers for the 1400 killed, mostly civilians, in the worst attack on Israel since its founding in 1948.

“The atrocities left a horrible mark,” said university president Asher Cohen. “But there is hope. There will be rebirth.”

Mayaan, 38, who lost both her parents in one of the kibbutz communities attacked by Hamas, said it was hard to watch the “devastating” images of death and destruction coming out of Gaza.

“It drives me crazy when people say ‘I’m pro-Palestinian’ or ‘I’m pro-Israeli’,” Mayaan said. “I am pro-peace. My parents would have said the same,” added Mayaan, a staff member of Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Dozens attended a memorial at the academy, where a crowd wearing black lit rows of candles commemorating the victims.

Sobs could be heard as they sang the Hatikvah national anthem – meaning “The Hope” in Hebrew. “No one has the right words,” said academy president Adi Stern, standing behind a row of screens that beamed portraits of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, alongside the words “Bring him home” or “Bring her home”.

They are among more than 240 hostages Israel says Hamas seized and dragged back into Gaza when they spilled out of the Palestinian territory at dawn, raiding communes, army bases and a music festival. “We are all in despair, in horror,” Professor Stern said. “We want to add some hope.”

At a prayer vigil at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, about three dozen Israelis and Palestinians of all stripes – Jews, Muslims and Christians – gathered to pay tribute to the victims of war and sought to distance themselves from politics.

“Everything has become polarised,” said Laura Wharton, a member of Jerusalem City Council.

“Death is not an answer to anything. We are all in mourning.”

In another emotionally charged gathering, hundreds of people prayed at the Western Wall – the holiest prayer site for Jews – for the safe return of the hostages. Carrying large posters with portraits of their loved ones alongside the word “kidnapped” in bold, many tearful relatives chanted “Bring them home now”.

“His son is waiting for him,” said Sipora Golan, 62, referring to her nephew Uriel Baruch, believed to have been taken by Hamas gunmen from the music festival. “Our hope is still alive”.

AFP