‘Like the end of the world’: Israelis still haunted by 7 October one year on

It was just after 6.30am when the first shots were fired.

A wave of Hamas fighters arrived at kibbutz Kfar Aza on foot and in the air, breaking through the Gaza border fence and flying over on hang gliders. Residents hid in their shelters, unsure of what was happening outside.

The kibbutz, only 1.8 miles (3 km) from the Gaza border, was one of the first reached by Hamas on that October Saturday morning.

“It seemed like the end of the world,” recalls Aviva Siegel, a resident of the kibbutz. “My house was shaking, from all the rockets that were coming out of Gaza.”

Around 9am, a second Hamas wave arrived, some on foot, others flying over the border with paragliders.

It was 12 hours before the Israeli military arrived. It took them days to retake Kfar Aza.

Finally, on Tuesday morning, after three and a half days of fighting, the longest battle was over.

At least one of the dead had been decapitated. The charred bodies of others were discovered in the ash of homes. The United Nations found evidence of sexual violence there.

Eighteen of the residents had also been taken hostage by Hamas. Some dead, some alive, they were forced into Gaza. Aviva Siegel and her husband Keith were two of them.

Ms Siegel said: “They pushed us and Keith fell, and they broke his ribs. They shot us and one of the bullets hit Keith’s hand.

“I remember going through the big, huge fence. It was just open, and we just drove into Gaza.”

By then, thousands of Hamas had been joined by other militant fighters from Gaza. All along Israel’s border, they rampaged through kibbutzim. The Israeli military fought running battles; more than 60 soldiers were killed that day.

Kfar Aza today is a ghost village. A few people have returned – if their houses are still standing.

Shar Shnurman and his wife now cook for the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border and hope kibbutz life will come back soon.

Standing by his BBQ, destroyed houses on every side of the street, he cuts a lonely figure.

“I didn’t see any other option but to live in my house, my land. It is what I owe to this country, what I owe to my father. This is the education I got: never to leave the house, never to leave my land. So, we came back.”

One year on, many of the residents of Kfar Aza are still temporarily living in a kibbutz north of Tel Aviv. They are still haunted by 7 October. Some are angry that they were abandoned.

“I’m disappointed with the army,” another former resident, Shani, tells us.

“You know, my enemy is my enemy. I didn’t think if they would come in, they would come to what? To shut down the electricity? No, they come to kill us. We knew it. But we thought we had a country and an army that was supposed to defend us.”

Massive weekly protests have been held across Israel, demanding a ceasefire and hostage deal. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in the hope that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would listen and act. For whatever reason, whoever is really to blame, it hasn’t happened.

The 7 October attack brought a divided Israel back together. Bitter splits over judicial reforms being pushed by Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing government were forgotten as the IDF set about destroying Hamas.

According to one poll, by the Israeli Democracy Institute, 80% of Israelis support the military’s invasion of Lebanon to return 60,000 Israelis to their homes on the northern border.

But few thought the war would last this long. Mr Netanyahu has skillfully and, his critics would say, cynically clung to power even though he has refused to accept any responsibility for the 7 October attacks despite being prime minister at the time.

His popularity is higher now, following the widespread assassinations of Hezbollah leaders, than it has been for many months. Few would bet against him remaining in office until elections scheduled for 2026; many believe he will win those too.

Mr Netanyahu has failed to propose a “day-after” plan for Gaza, and Hamas is starting to re-emerge in the north of the Strip, much to the annoyance of senior IDF commanders.

The Israeli government has described the invasion of Lebanon as “limited and targeted” but has put forward no strategy for exiting. The invasion, still only days old, is already showing signs of becoming another drawn-out grinding conflict.

Of the roughly 250 people taken hostage on 7 October, 97 are still being held in Gaza. Until they are released or rescued, dead or alive, Mr Netanyahu won’t be able to claim any victory.

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Many hostage families believe Mr Netanyahu has deliberately avoided doing a deal with Hamas and label him a murderer as a result. Ms Siegel was released last November, but her husband, Keith, wasn’t. One morning, she said a rushed goodbye to her husband and hasn’t seen or heard from him since.

“I bent down to him and said I’m going to Israel and that he must be strong for me, and I will be strong for him. And that’s how we separated, he didn’t say a word.”

No matter how many times Aviva has retold her story, her lip trembles and her eyes water.

“He was in shock, I was in shock. I’ve got no idea what Keith thought and how he managed that moment. He said nothing.”

The 7 October attack changed everything. For millions, it was the day normal life paused. A year on, the war in Gaza continues and conflict has spread across the region.

More than 41,000 have been killed in Gaza, but Hamas remains undefeated. Israel has invaded Lebanon, but Hezbollah is fighting back.

With some inevitability, Iran and the United States are being dragged into a war that is now tumbling out of their control.

Mr Netanyahu promised Israelis “total victory” over their enemies – it’s unclear when or how that will come.