Vigils, protests around the world commemorate the anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel

Commemorations and protests unfolded across the world on Monday to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, an assault that sparked a war that has devastated the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip, fueled hostilities and bloodshed in other Mideast lands and ignited protests and divisions in farflung countries.

Hamas militants’ surprise cross-border attack last year killed about 1,200 people. Another 250 were taken hostage; around 100 remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. The attack, on a major Jewish holiday, shattered Israelis’ sense of security and left the world facing the prospect of a major conflict in the Middle East.

Israel responded by waging a war against the Hamas militants in Gaza, where the fighting has killed over 41,000 people and displaced around 1.9 million. The conflict has spread in the region, where Israel now also is fighting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, facing escalating threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels and contending with a mounting conflict with Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The Hamas-Israel war also has spurred demonstrations and stirred tensions in many U.S. locales, including college campuses and major cities. In New York, hundreds of protesters chanted “free, free Palestine,” carried signs with messages such as “cease-fire now” and spread a large Palestinian flag on a street near the New York Stock Exchange early Monday afternoon, while a smaller group of counterprotesters held an Israeli flag.

The pro-Palestinian protesters began marching through Manhattan for what was expected to be an hours-long procession, joining a group of hundreds more demonstrators at a downtown park.

Meanwhile, a large remembrance ceremony was planned later Monday in Central Park for those killed in the Hamas attack a year ago. New York’s mayor and governor were among those expected to attend.

At Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Gov. Josh Shapiro viewed an exhibition about the Tribe of Nova music festival in Re’im, Israel, where hundreds were killed.

“I hope people leave here with knowledge and an understanding of what really happened, because I think that in some segments of our society, we don’t have that knowledge,” said Shapiro, a Democrat. He added that he hoped visitors emerged “more tolerant, a bit more understanding and more committed to finding peace in our society and peace across the globe.”

The nations of Europe, home to many Jewish and Muslim communities, have sought to tamp down both antisemitic and anti-Muslim sentiment.

The German chancellery in Berlin was adorned Monday with a yellow ribbon commemorating the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, around 100 of whom remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. The names of the people killed and kidnapped in the attack on Israel were read out in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said to Germany’s “dear friends in Israel” that “we feel with you … we stand beside you.” Speaking to a conference in Hamburg, Scholz also pointed to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

In Italy, Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has voiced strong support for Israel, visited the main synagogue in Rome. She reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, while insisting that the country respect international law and lamenting the devastation unleashed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

She denounced the “latent and rampant antisemitism” she said has arisen since the Hamas attack, citing in particular pro-Palestinian protests in Italy this past weekend, some of which turned violent.

French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris with relatives of hostages and of people killed in the Oct. 7 attacks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot attended a memorial service at the site of the Nova music festival.

The Vatican marked the anniversary of the attacks by taking up a collection for the people of Gaza and publishing a letter from Pope Francis to Catholics in the region, expressing his solidarity.

In Poland’s capital of Warsaw, the Jewish community paid tribute to Alex Dancyg, a Polish-born Holocaust historian who was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7 and killed by Hamas.

In Australia, thousands of people remembered the Oct. 7 dead by attending vigils in Sydney and Melbourne, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joining the latter event. Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters had rallied across Australia’s cities on Sunday, and hundreds gathered amid a heavy police presence Monday night at Sydney town hall for a vigil for Palestinian lives lost in the conflict.

In Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, schoolchildren took part in a Monday rally, organized by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League party, to protest Israeli airstrikes in the Middle East and show solidarity with Palestinian people living in Gaza and Lebanon.

Japanese officials demanded the immediate release of all hostages and expressed condolences to Israelis who lost family members in the Hamas attacks.