‘Like the end of the world’: Israelis still haunted by 7 October Hamas attacks 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.
Burned-out cars in Kfar Aza
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‘Everything is destroyed’
“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.
Kibbutz 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.
Aviva Siegel and her husband were taken hostage by Hamas. She was released last November, but he wasn’t
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 hope kibbutz life will return soon
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.
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‘On 7 October life dramatically changed’
“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.
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Attack on Israel ‘will be done again if necessary’
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.
Shani, who used to live on the kibbutz, says she is ‘disappointed’ with the Israeli army
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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Kfar Aza kibbutz
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.
Destruction in Gaza
“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.
World
US ‘destroying’ international rules-based order by trying to meet Russia ‘halfway’, Ukraine’s UK ambassador warns
The United States is “finally destroying” the international rules-based order by trying to meet Russia “halfway”, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has warned.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Washington’s recent actions in relation to Moscow could lead to the collapse of NATO – with Europe becoming Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s next target.
“The failure to qualify actions of Russia as an aggression is a huge challenge for the entire world and Europe, in particular,” he told a conference at the Chatham House think tank.
Ukraine latest: ‘Watershed moment’ as Kremlin blasts Macron
“We see that it is not just the axis of evil and Russia trying to revise the world order, but the US is finally destroying this order.”
Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Pic: Reuters
Mr Zaluzhnyi, who took over as Kyiv’s ambassador to London in 2024 following three years as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, also warned that the White House had “questioned the unity of the whole Western world” – suggesting NATO could cease to exist as a result.
It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scrambles to repair relations with US President Donald Trump following a dramatic row between the two men in the Oval Office last week.
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Mr Trump signalled on Tuesday that tensions could be easing, telling Congress he had received a letter from Mr Zelenskyy saying he was ready to sign a peace deal “at any time”.
Zelenskyy and Trump during their extraordinary Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
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But on the same day, the US president ordered a sudden freeze on shipments of US military aid to Ukraine, and Washington has since paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv and halted cyber operations against Russia.
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Mr Zaluzhnyi said the pause in cyber operations and an earlier decision by the US to oppose a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine were “a huge challenge for the entire world”.
He added that talks between the US and Russia – “headed by a war criminal” – showed the White House “makes steps towards the Kremlin, trying to meet them halfway”, warning Moscow’s next target “could be Europe”.
World
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh being forced to fight for same military accused of genocide against their people
Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh is a sprawling mass of humanity.
It’s a sea of makeshift bamboo shelters, home to more than one million Rohingya refugees – a mainly Muslim minority from Rakhine state in Myanmar.
Some 700,000 fled their homeland back in 2017 – after the Myanmar military massacred thousands.
The army was accused of genocide by the United Nations.
The Rohingya refugees didn’t escape danger though.
Right now, violence is at its worst levels in the camps since 2017 and Rohingya people face a particularly cruel new threat – they’re being forced back to fight for the same Myanmar military accused of trying to wipe out their people.
A child at the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
Militant groups are recruiting Rohingya men in the camps, some at gunpoint, and taking them back to Myanmar to fight for a force that’s losing ground.
Jaker is just 19.
We’ve changed his name to protect his identity.
He says he was abducted at gunpoint last year by a group of nine men in Cox’s.
They tied his hands with rope he says and took him to the border where he was taken by boat with three other men to fight for the Myanmar military.
“It was heartbreaking,” he told me. “They targeted poor children. The children of wealthy families only avoided it by paying money.”
And he says the impact has been deadly.
“Many of our Rohingya boys, who were taken by force from the camps, were killed in battle.”
Jaker speaks to Sky’s Cordelia Lynch
An aerial view of the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
The situation in Cox’s is desperate.
People are disillusioned by poverty, violence and the plight of their own people and the civil war they ran from is getting worse.
In Rakhine, just across the border, there’s been a big shift in dynamics.
The Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group has all but taken control of the state from the ruling military junta.
Both the military and the AA are accused of committing atrocities against Rohingya Muslims.
And whilst some Rohingya claim they’re being forced into the fray – dragged back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, others are willing to go.
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Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar – where refugees arrive from Myanmar after crossing the Naf River
Some are so aggrieved with the AA, they’re willing to support their former persecutors.
Abu Zar is one of those willing to take up arms.
But not for the military or AA, he says.
Everyone praying in the mosque with him is prepared to go back to protect their own cause he says – not anyone else’s.
“We want to fight for our rights because we have been demanding justice for a long time. But the situation has become unbearable,” he tells me.
Abu Zar has said he is willing to take up arms for his own cause
It’s estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Rohingya have joined armed groups from this camp.
But the fight they are joining has become increasingly bloody.
In a cramped shelter, we meet Safura.
Safura came under fire as she fled Myanmar
Safura’s son Aman had his foot blown off
Five days ago she managed to get out of Myanmar but she had to be carried part of the way.
Her legs are riddled with bullet wounds and the pain is severe.
Her son, Aman, who lies on the floor next to her, has had his foot blown off.
They were injured she said, during an attack on her family home in the middle of the night.
“They entered our house and shot all my family members. My husband and mother-in-law were killed on the spot.”
The military denies forcing Rohingya to the battlefield. But the camps tell a different story- one of surging violence and vulnerability.
US President Donald Trump has told Gazans to hand over Israeli hostages or “you are dead”.
The threat, made over social media, came hours after the White House confirmed that US officials had broken with tradition to hold direct talks with Hamas.
The US has previously avoided direct contact with the group owing to Washington’s longstanding position not to negotiate with terrorists – with Hamas having been designated as a terrorist group in the US since 1997.
In a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Ms Keavitt said there had been “ongoing talks and discussions” between the US officials and Hamas.
File pic: AP
But she would not be drawn on the substance of the talks – taking place in Doha, Qatar – between US officials and Hamas, but said Israel had been consulted.
Ms Leavitt continued: “Dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people, is something that the president has proven is what he believes is a good faith, effort to do what’s right for the American people.”
There are “American lives at stake,” she added.
Adam Boehler, Mr Trump’s pick to be special envoy for hostage affairs, participated in the direct talks with Hamas.
A spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had “expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas”.
Hours later, Mr Trump warned Hamas to hand over Israeli hostages or “it’s over for you” – adding: “This is your last warning”.
Hamas militants on the day of a hostage handover in Gaza in February. Pic: Reuters
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump wrote: “Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered or it is over for you.
“Only sick and twisted people keep bodies and you are sick and twisted. I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.”
Mr Trump met with freed Israeli hostages on Wednesday, something he referenced in his social media post, before adding: “This is your last warning. For the leadership of Hamas, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.
“Also, to the people of Gaza, a beautiful future awaits, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, you are dead. Make a smart decision. Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later.”
Israel estimates about 24 living hostages, including American citizen Edan Alexander, and the bodies of at least 35 others, are still believed to be in Gaza.
Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu in February. Pic: Reuters
The US has a long-held policy of not negotiating with terrorists – which it is breaking with these talks as Hamas has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US government’s National Counterterrorism Center since 1997.
The discussions come as a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire continues to hold, but its future is uncertain.
Palestinians amid the rubble in the southern Gaza strip. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump has signalled he has no intention of pushing the Israeli prime minister away from a return to combat if Hamas does not agree to terms of a new ceasefire proposal – which, Israel says, has been drafted by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages – the group’s main bargaining chip – in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
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Israel has made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners, a key component of the first phase.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January.
Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
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