We’re marking 1,000 days, but for me it’s been an eternity" ::::: ‘We won’t give up’: Crowd marking 1,000 days since Oct. 7 vows to keep demanding state inquiry

 Thousands of people gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday night to mark 1,000 days since Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and to demand a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the onslaught and massacre.

Israel marks 1,000 days since October 7 attack as calls grow for independent inquiry. 

The attack on October 7, 2023, killed 1,221 people in Israel.

Protesters also briefly blocked the northbound Ayalon Highway at rush hour ahead of the rally. At least seven protesters were arrested, according to an anti-government volunteer lawyer group.

The rally marked a return to Hostages Square, the plaza that symbolized the struggle to free the 251 captives taken during the October 7 attack, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and launched the Gaza war. 

The square served as the focal point for demonstrations demanding the hostages’ release until the remains of the last slain captive, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, were returned in January.

Rom Braslavski, one of the 20 final living hostages who were released on October 13 as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire, was greeted with chants of “hero” as he took to the stage to speak.

“I was held in Gaza for two whole years. We’re marking 1,000 days, but for me it’s been an eternity,” he said. “I went through 1,000 lifetimes in 1,000 days.”  

‘Exactly 1,000 days ago, my life stopped’

Thursday’s protest was organized by the October Council, an anti-government group comprising hundreds of bereaved families, survivors and former hostages taken in the onslaught. The group organized protests at junctions nationwide throughout Thursday, starting at 6:29 a.m., the exact time that the Hamas attack began 1,000 days earlier.  

The attack on October 7, 2023, killed 1,221 people in Israel, according to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP, while Hamas-led militants also took 251 hostages into Gaza.

Israel responded with a large-scale military offensive in the Palestinian territory. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than 73,000 people have been killed during the conflict. While the ministry operates under Hamas, its casualty figures are regarded by the United Nations as broadly reliable.  

Although a ceasefire came into effect in October, negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent end to the conflict have made little progress, with Israeli forces continuing to control nearly 70% of the Gaza Strip.

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