October 7th, one year later

October 7th, 2023.

6:29 AM.

The sirens began to wail continuously across central and southern Israel. It was the morning of Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday that falls at the end of Sukkot, celebrating the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings. Thousands of Israeli citizens rushed to take shelter, confused and unaware of what was happening.

We were in Tel Aviv, having just returned home from a party. We had gone to bed a couple of hours before the first siren. When it woke us, we spent the required 10 minutes inside the shelter after the alarm sounded, then went back to sleep, thinking it was just another routine attack, one of the many that happen each year to remind us of the reality we live in. No one imagined that this siren would mark the beginning of a war we’d be living with for the next year.

An hour later, another alarm sounded, then another, and another. Soon, we began to receive chilling reports of what was happening just a few kilometers away, in all the kibbutzim and major cities surrounding the Gaza Strip: people shot at bus stops in Sderot lying in pools of blood; partygoers trying to escape from the Nova Festival in the Re'im forest, homes destroyed, elderly people and children taken hostage and brought into Gaza, people burned alive in their cars.

It was October 7th, and Hamas terrorists had invaded Israel, causing the largest massacre the State of Israel had seen since its founding.

More than 1,200 dead.

Hundreds of soldiers killed.

251 people taken hostage into Gaza, 101 of whom remain in the clutches of Hamas to this day, with 37 no longer alive.

Over 300,000 reservists were called up within 48 hours.

Thousands of residents in southern Israel were evacuated to safer areas of the country, such as the Dead Sea and Eilat.

Hundreds of Thai agricultural workers fled the country in terror, leaving farm owners overwhelmed, with tons of fruits and vegetables beginning to rot.

The entire country fell into decline, but none of those privileged enough to be alive stopped in the face of hostility. Instead, they joined forces to bring about incredible acts of kindness that kept the country from giving up.

For months, we drove people across the country to take them to military bases or away from their burned homes, picked fruits and vegetables on farms in the North and near the Gaza Strip, and packed thousands of kilos of food and clothes for soldiers and those who lost their homes and families, keeping the spirit of the nation alive, bringing light even in the darkest moments.

Today, over a year since October 7, 2023, we pay tribute to all those—Israeli citizens and people from over 40 other countries—who lost their lives during the war. Until peace prevails.

You can find the stories of the civilians at this link, and those of the soldiers at this link.

The names of all the victims of the Hamas-Hezbollah-Israel War.