Israelis gather for October 7 memorial

Tens of thousands gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday

for the main ceremony organised by bereaved families,

separate from the official government ceremonies to

mark the third anniversary of the October 7 attack.

Participants paid tribute to those who were killed,

as well as those who responded to the

October 7 attack in 2023,

where Hamas-led militants killed about

1,200 people and took 251 hostages,

according to Israeli authorities.

It marks one of the deadliest attacks

in the country's history, and ignited

Israel's retaliatory offensive that killed

tens of thousands of Palestinians,

destroyed much of Gaza and displaced

most of its roughly two million residents

in the following three years.

Many who gather, some who had lost loved ones,

others simply to pay tribute to those

who passed and others that stepped into to help,

say they have been forever changed by

the incident.

Some continue to seek answers into what happened.

Others demand the truth from their government, and says proper investigation

is the only way to ensure attacks like these don't happen again.

Another resident says individuals from different walks of life have come

together at the memorial with the same goal in mind- to ensure

those who were lost are never forgotten.

"Today we see here all the shades of the mosaic of Israeli society,

people coming from the village, from the city, I am from the north, religious,

secular, we are all essentially one human fabric that today remembers and

commits to never forget and to repair," this mourner says.

Meanwhile, many around the world take the occasion to voice their

support for Palestine, including those in Columbia's Bogota.

For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day of fear

and misery. Most Gaza residents live in squalid tent camps,

with large parts of cities bombed to rubble. More than half the territory

remains in the hands of the Israeli military. Despite a ceasefire deal

reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily.