Lawmakers from both parties paid their respects to the victims of the surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel on its first anniversary.
On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas and allied militants stormed across the Israeli border by land, sea, and air, killing almost 1,200 Israelis on the deadliest day in the country’s history. Most of the civilians who died were killed in border villages or at the Re’im music festival. The massacres triggered the largest regional war involving Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Since Oct. 7, tens of thousands of people across Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Iran have been killed or wounded, and millions more people have been displaced.
On the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, lawmakers in the United States paid respect to the victims. President Joe Biden led the commemorations, issuing a lengthy statement.
“On this day last year, the sun rose on what was supposed to be a joyous Jewish holiday. By sunset, Oct. 7 had become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Today marks one year of mourning for the more than 1,200 innocent people of all ages, including 46 Americans, massacred in southern Israel by the terrorist group Hamas,” he said.
“The Oct. 7 attack brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people. That is why, soon after the attack, I became the first American President to visit Israel in a time of war. I made clear then to the people of Israel: you are not alone. One year later, Vice President Harris and I remain fully committed to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist,” Biden added.
He also expressed sympathy for the Palestinian people in Gaza, saying Oct. 7 would be remembered as a “dark day for the Palestinian people” and blaming Palestinian deaths on Hamas.
Vice President Kamala Harris issued a similar statement.
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“I will never forget the horror of Oct. 7, 2023. One thousand two hundred innocent people, including 46 Americans, were massacred by Hamas terrorists. Women raped on the side of the road. Two hundred fifty people kidnapped. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. What Hamas did that day was pure evil — it was brutal and sickening. And it has rekindled a deep fear among the Jewish people not just in Israel, but in the United States and around the world,” she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will speak at a candlelight vigil in Las Vegas later in the day, according to Politico. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Young Kim (R-CA), and Joe Wilson (R-SC) will announce a resolution, co-sponsored by roughly 130 other members, commemorating the attack and calling on Hamas to “immediately and unconditionally surrender and to release the hostages.”