Three Years After October 7 Attacks Amid Current Wars in the World, Israelis Demand Accountability as Gaza Lies in Ruins
Three years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel and triggered a multi-front regional war, Israelis are marking the anniversary with mourning and demands for government accountability while Palestinians face widespread destruction in Gaza amid current wars in the world.
Anniversary Commemorations in Israel and Gaza
Israelis gathered in silence on Wednesday in a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was overrun by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 three years ago, mourning victims of attacks that set off Israel’s assault in Gaza and plunged the Middle East into war. [3] In the Gaza Strip, devastated by three years of Israeli bombardment, Palestinians sheltering among the ruins of destroyed cities recalled life before a war that displaced nearly the entire population and tore apart families. [3] The attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, were the deadliest day in Israel’s history. [3] Militants led by Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, a cross-border incursion that traumatized Israelis who have demanded government accountability. [3]
Egyptian Business Leader's Assessment of October 7
In an interview with FRANCE 24, Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris called the October 7 attacks a "horrible act of terrorism" that brought Palestinians "only destruction", while warning of an "expansionist" Israeli government. [1] He also said that the economic fallout from the Iran war is already "happening", defended doubling his UAE investment despite the regional conflict, and praised Syria's new president. [1] Egyptian American billionaire Naguib Sawiris, the chairman of Orascom Investment Holding, spoke to FRANCE 24 three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel. [1] "What did Palestine or the Palestinians gain from October 7? Nothing. Only destruction," he said. [1] However, he voiced fears of "a government in Israel that is expansionist", describing Israeli settlers as "crazy". [1] Asked about the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States, Sawiris said a global economic meltdown is no longer a risk: "It's not about fear. It's happening." [1] Sawiris blamed Iran, which "has become a destabilising power", but also Israel and the US for "this war, which could have been avoided". [1] He has nonetheless doubled his investment in the United Arab Emirates, with a message for Tehran: "You're not going to scare us." [1] Sawiris's telecom assets in Syria were seized under the Assad regime. [1] He recently met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and told FRANCE 24 he does not seek compensation. [1] Asked about meeting a former jihadist as a Christian from a Coptic Orthodox family, he said: "It shows you that even the extremes can meet." [1]
Poll shows 68 percent of Israelis cite October 7 attacks as key election factor. — Source: newsmax
Eroding Public Confidence in Israeli Government
'Most Israeli citizens lost confidence' in govt: PM, leaders 'shift blame, block commission inquiry'. [2] Oliver Farry welcomes Guy Poran, a former Israeli Air Force officer and member of Mistaclim (Looking the Occupation in the Eye). [2] Poran sees October 7 as a profound rupture in Israeli society following the unprecedented Hamas attack, which targeted civilians across generations. [2] He argues that responsibility for the failures cannot be separated from the policies that preceded the attack, including the Netanyahu government's approach toward Hamas. [2] Without political change, Poran sees little prospect for accountability. [2]
October 7 as Election Factor
The failures surrounding Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack are looming over Israel's Oct. 27 election, with voters preparing to pass judgment on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership three years after the massacre. [4] A poll shows 68% of Israelis say the October 7 failures are a key factor in the upcoming October 27 election as voters judge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. [4]
Regional War Impacts: Hezbollah Funding from Iran
Hezbollah has received $200 million from Iran to help Lebanese displaced by this year’s war with Israel, two people with direct knowledge of the transfer said, the first significant aid from the group to supporters who bore the brunt of the conflict. [5] Hezbollah received the cash last month despite a tightening US economic chokehold on Iran and increasing difficulties in getting funds to Tehran's Lebanese ally, said the people. [5] Intermediaries who moved the money charged a 20% fee, reflecting the risks of dealing with the group, they said. [5] One said this was four times the normal fee. [5] Asked for comment, a Hezbollah official said an amount had been secured and a plan for distributing it would be announced in the coming days, without elaborating on the source of the funds. [5] The Iranian foreign ministry, Iran's permanent mission in Geneva, the US Treasury Department and the Lebanese government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. [5] Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Lebanon uprooted hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah’s Shi’ite Muslim constituents after the group entered the regional war in support of Iran on March 2. [5] But those displaced have so far received little to no assistance from Hezbollah, an armed group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 which has suffered heavy Israeli blows in two wars since 2024 and is designated a terrorist group by Washington. [5] Hezbollah would use the funds to pay an initial $3,000 per family, and priority will go to those whose villages have been destroyed or are inaccessible due to Israeli occupation, the sources said. [5] These number around 50,000 families, one of the sources said. [5] Iran has maintained financial support to Hezbollah through years of crippling US sanctions: it transferred $1 billion to the group in the first 10 months of 2025, according to the US Treasury Department. [5] Tehran has never acknowledged financing Hezbollah. [5] Iran's policy of funding regional proxies has stirred domestic protester anger against the clerical rulers in the past and could prove particularly sensitive at a time of worsening hardship in Iran. [5] Iran had promised Hezbollah more funding after Tehran signed an interim deal with Washington in June that allowed Iran to sell its oil, Reuters reported at the time. [5] That agreement collapsed in July. [5] Washington has since intensified economic pressure on Iran, tightening sanctions and imposing a naval blockade to block Iranian oil exports. [5] Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a speech last month that the group would soon contribute to a project aimed at housing thousands of people displaced by the war, using “available resources and donations”, without elaborating. [5] Hezbollah's ability to fund local services and provide post-conflict aid has helped shore up its support in the past. [5] Following a war with Israel in 2006, the group immediately handed out large cash payments to those impacted and moved swiftly to help rebuild Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold. [5] But this time there has been little sign of reconstruction. [5] Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said last month that the total reconstruction costs from the two wars since 2024 could exceed $27 billion. [5] The two sources provided no details on how the money got to Lebanon. [5] One of them said it was increasingly difficult for Hezbollah to move funds via financial companies that once processed such transfers. [5] Such firms based in Iraq and Dubai were no longer an option, and they were also now under pressure in Turkey, this source said. [5] Hezbollah’s foes believed money was currently the group’s “oxygen”, the source added. [5] Despite the difficulties securing funding, the group had not stopped paying its fighters and the family members of those killed in combat, this source said. [5] In Lebanon, the war has inflicted a heavy price on the Shi’ite Muslim community from which Hezbollah draws support. [5] Israel has razed villages across a swathe of territory it has seized in the south, saying it aims to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attack. [5] Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 4,300 people since March 2, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. [5] Hezbollah has not disclosed figures on its war dead. [5] Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the war. [5]
Hezbollah receives $200 million from Iran to assist displaced people in Lebanon. — Source: thenewarab
Broader Economic and Political Fallout from Current Wars in the World
Sawiris said the economic fallout from the Iran war is already "happening". [1] He blamed Iran, which "has become a destabilising power", but also Israel and the US for "this war, which could have been avoided". [1] He has nonetheless doubled his investment in the United Arab Emirates, with a message for Tehran: "You're not going to scare us." [1] Sawiris's telecom assets in Syria were seized under the Assad regime. [1] He recently met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and told FRANCE 24 he does not seek compensation. [1] Asked about meeting a former jihadist as a Christian from a Coptic Orthodox family, he said: "It shows you that even the extremes can meet." [1]
What to watch next: Hezbollah would use the funds to pay an initial $3,000 per family, and priority will go to those whose villages have been destroyed or are inaccessible due to Israeli occupation, the sources said.
