October 7, three years on: every hostage home, but no answers yet

At 6:29 on Wednesday morning, exactly three years after Hamas-led gunmen crossed from Gaza into southern Israel, the country stood still. Ceremonies, memorials and protests took place at more than 400 locations, CNN reported, beginning with a national moment of silence.

President Isaac Herzog lit a memorial candle at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Outside the Knesset, families of victims and former hostages gathered beside burned-out cars from the Nova music festival. In Tel Aviv, protesters briefly blocked the Ayalon Highway with a banner reading “The people will remember their sons and daughters”, Ynetnews reported.

What happened on 7 October 2023

On 7 October 2023 more than 1,200 people were killed in Israeli communities, army posts and at the Nova festival near the Gaza border, and 251 people were taken hostage into Gaza. It was the deadliest single day in Israel’s history.

Every hostage has come home

The ceasefire of October 2025 brought the living hostages home. The search for the bodies of those who had been killed continued for months. On 26 January 2026 the Israeli military announced that it had recovered the remains of the last hostage, police officer Ran Gvili, from a cemetery in Gaza City. “Thus, all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip have been repatriated,” the army said. Gvili, 24, had been killed defending Kibbutz Alumim; he was buried in his hometown of Meitar.

The question that remains

Three years on, the central demand of many bereaved families has not been met: an independent state commission of inquiry into the failures that made the attack possible.

In July 2026 the coalition passed, in first reading only, a bill for a different kind of inquiry panel whose members would be appointed politically. Ynetnews reported that the bill is not expected to advance in the current Knesset. When Ynetnews and Yedioth Ahronoth asked parties this month how they would investigate, most opposition parties backed a state commission; Likud and several coalition partners declined to state a preferred model.

According to Axios, every other senior national security official in office on 7 October has since resigned. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not, and has said security chiefs kept him uninformed. Recent reports that regional allies had warned Israel in advance have sharpened the debate, NPR reported. These remain contested claims that an inquiry would have to test.

A changed army, unbeaten enemies

The IDF says it has overhauled Military Intelligence, Gaza border defences and readiness forces since the attack, including new warning systems and fortified posts. It also acknowledges, as Ynetnews summarised, that neither Hamas in the south nor Hezbollah in the north has been decisively defeated.

Towards the election

The anniversary falls three weeks before the general election of 27 October, in which responsibility for 7 October is one of the central issues. Former hostage Gadi Moses, speaking to The Jerusalem Post, called on the government to stop resisting an inquiry — and said Israelis must start talking “about what will happen tomorrow”.

GOD News follows these developments in its dossier “October 7: three years on”.