Sydney, October 7, 2026. In Australia, the third anniversary of the Hamas attack is first and foremost a time of mourning and a reflection of the local Jewish community. The government of Australia notes the impact of the attack on its community. Emily Damari, 30, who was taken hostage and injured in the kibbutz of Kfar Aza and released in January 2025, says that "freedom has completely changed" her outlook on life. She explains: "Today, I open the fridge and say thank you." The Australian media recalls the toll of the attack, 1,200 dead and 251 hostages, and specifies that most were released during a ceasefire in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while dozens did not survive. The media also notes that, despite the rise in anti-Semitism, Jewish Australian figures claim to continue to "live proudly and openly".

In Sydney, a "somber" vigil was held at Bondi. Hundreds of people, some draped in Israeli flags, observed a minute of silence at 6:29, the time of the assault in 2023. Alex Ryvchin, co-director of the Australian Jewry, speaks of a "reflective" service for a community that has "gone through many trials". Michael Gencher, of StandWithUs Australia, places the date "in the shadow" of the massacre of December 14 at Bondi Beach. He believes that hatred towards Israel and Jews has become "more visible, more accepted and more dangerous".

On the political front, PerthNow reports the statements of Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Angus Taylor. The Prime Minister promises to "never forget what the terrorists perpetrated", mentions Australian Galit Carbone among the victims, and affirms that "Australia stands with the Jewish community". He adds that Hamas "must disarm and play no role in the future of Palestine". Angus Taylor, as pro-Palestinian marches are planned in Sydney, criticizes those who portray Israel as the "bad guy" and Hamas as the victim.

The Guardian Australia slips the event into its Morning Mail: its reporters spoke to Israeli survivors of the kibbutz, border towns, bases, and music festival. The date appears alongside purely domestic issues: immigration, climate, anonymous graves.

In this coverage, neither the Israeli legislative elections of October 27, nor the refusal of a commission of inquiry by Benyamin Netanyahu, nor the toll of the war in Gaza appear. The focus remains on the Israeli victims and the security of Australian Jews.

Brussels, October 7, 2026. The Belgian press is marking the third anniversary of the Hamas attack with solemnity. La Libre Belgique and the DH, citing AFP, report that a minute of silence was observed at 06:29, the time the assault began, at the site of the Nova festival, where the attack killed over 300 people, and then at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 residents were killed and 18 taken hostage. The DH notes a death toll of 1,221 according to an AFP count, 251 people taken hostage including 44 who have since died, and points out that these commemorations are the first since the ceasefire took effect in Gaza. The official ceremonies, it specifies, were held on Monday, on a date set by the Israeli government.

The Flemish newspaper VRT NWS is focusing on the trauma: "There is trauma, a deep and not to be underestimated trauma," it writes, and it evokes the anger over still not having a commission of inquiry. It gives a voice to Emily Hand, 11, who was a hostage at the age of 8 for 50 days, and to Yaakov Godo, the father of Tom, who was killed on October 7. The Israelis, it says, are now looking at their leaders and the end-of-month elections in a different light.

La Libre Belgique is pushing the analysis towards responsibility. Its October 7 article recalls that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, on Sunday, October 4, spoke of "the magnitude of the disaster" and the need not to get bogged down in military investigations. The newspaper lists the series of resignations, from Aharon Haliva, head of Aman, in April 2024, to Herzi Halevi, Yossi Sariel, Yaron Finkelman, and Oded Basiuk, and reads the security failure through the mistrust between Benjamin Netanyahu and the army, which also serves as a scapegoat for the government.

Brasília, October 7, 2026. The Brazilian press, through the Folha de S.Paulo and its aggregator UOL, marks the three years of the October 7th by a long account of memory and trauma, rather than a report of ceremonies or electoral campaign.

The main text, titled "After 3 years, October 7th mobilizes memory, politics and fears of Jews in Israel", recalls the extent of the attack. Thousands of armed men from Hamas and other Palestinian factions crossed the Gaza border and struck locations up to 22 km from it. The group, which the Folha describes as "terrorist", fired around 5,000 rockets. Its military leader, Mohammad Deif, called on Palestinians around the world to fight: "This is the day of the greatest battle to put an end to the last occupation on Earth".

The retained toll is 1,200 dead, civilians and members of the security forces, Israelis and foreigners, surprised at home in kibbutzim, on roads or at the Nova electronic music festival, near the kibbutz of Re'im, where 351 people were killed. The newspaper emphasizes that a Brazilian, Ranani Glazer, is among the victims. It also cites reports, including that of the United Nations in June 2024 and that of an Israeli commission, which describe tortures, desecrations of corpses and sexual violence against women, as well as the fate of the 251 hostages taken to Gaza.

A second article, published on October 6, deals with the intimate aftermath of the drama. Since October 7, 2023, post-mortem sperm collection has been successfully performed on at least 250 soldiers and 21 civilians in Israel, according to the Folha. A mother, Sharon Eizenkot, tells how she signed the form handed over by officers after the death of her son Maor, 19, killed in Gaza on December 8, 2023: "My world was shattered". The practice, once reserved for widows, is now open to parents, and an ethical debate is underway.

Berlin, October 7, 2026. For the German press, the third anniversary of October 7 is first and foremost a political issue: why is Benyamin Netanyahou still in office? The news podcast of ZEIT, published on Wednesday, recalls that Islamist terrorists from Gaza killed around 1,200 people and took many hostages, "the largest massacre of Jews since the Shoah." It notes that a truce has been in place in Gaza for nearly a year, although attacks continue, and that, "despite being warned," the Prime Minister remains in office and is running in the upcoming election. The foreign policy editor Lea Frehse explains how he manages to do so and what place the attack occupies in the campaign.

The FAZ is interested in the same divide. Under the title "What did Netanyahou know before October 7?", it recalls that he was allegedly warned several times before the attack, and wonders if this helps the opposition. It reports on the official ceremony on Monday, October 5, in Jerusalem: during the Prime Minister's speech, Yaakov Godo stood up and shouted: "You did not protect my son on October 7," then spoke of "shame." The newspaper sees this as proof that October 7 remains in Israel "an open wound," especially for the families of the victims.

Deutsche Welle chooses the angle of trauma. Its report on October 5, titled "Israel's mental health in a state of emergency," follows Ronen Shalev, whose two children were at the Nova festival, where nearly 400 of the more than 1,200 dead were killed. His daughter survived; his son, shot and wounded, saw his partner die; his wife then took her own life. "We start to tremble," he says, because "it's not just a day, and then we move on to something else." The article's title claims that one in three Israelis is traumatized.

Copenhagen, October 7, 2026. For Politiken, Israel commemorates on Wednesday, October 7, the third anniversary of the 2023 Hamas attack, "knap tre uger før" the legislative elections where the deadliest assault in the country's history "ventes at spille en central rolle". The daily newspaper emphasizes that this is the first anniversary marked since the ceasefire came into effect last year in a devastated Gaza.

The newspaper recalls the toll: over 1,200 people killed, when Hamas militants and other groups entered from Gaza to attack kibbutzes, military bases, and a music festival. They took 251 hostages to Gaza; 85 of them did not return alive. The ceremonies are described in detail: at 06:29 local time, the start time of the attack, a memorial service opens at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 residents were killed and 18 taken hostage. Another takes place at the site of the Nova festival, where 370 people died, and families gather in the evening in a park in Tel Aviv.

Politiken insists on the security framework: the gatherings are held under reinforced measures. Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Tuesday, October 6, that the army was on high alert, after intelligence indicated that Hamas would attempt attacks on Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Wednesday.

The newspaper also relays the political speech. As early as Monday, October 5, during the first ceremonies, Benyamin Netanyahu stated that Gaza would not remain under Hamas control and repeated his promise to pursue all those involved in the attack. A subheading also notes the "begrænset fremdrift" of Donald Trump's peace plan.

Paris, October 7, 2026. Three years after the Hamas attack, the French press links the Israeli commemoration to the October 27 election. France 24 believes that these legislative elections "take on the appearance of a plebiscite - or a vote of no confidence" on Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the security catastrophe. According to an AFP count, 1,221 people were killed on October 7, 2023, and 251 were taken hostage, including 44 who have already died. The Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused more than 74,200 deaths, according to the territory's Ministry of Health, which the UN considers reliable, Le Monde recalls.

On Wednesday, a minute of silence was observed at 6:29 am at the Nova festival site and at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where 64 residents were killed and 18 were taken hostage. The ceremonies are being held under increased alert, a week after a suspected attempted attack on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, according to Sud Ouest. Israeli strikes have killed at least two people in Gaza, France 24 reports.

The dominant theme is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. On Monday, October 5, during an official ceremony, a grieving father shouted at him: "You failed to protect my son on October 7. Shame on you!" RFI and France 24 return to the Haaretz investigation published on September 8: the Emirati president allegedly warned Netanyahu about ten days before the attack. Sud Ouest adds that, according to Haaretz, he did not pass on the alert to the security services, which he categorically denied. France 24 notes, however, that his electoral base remains solid.

Jérusalem, October 7, 2026. Three years after the Hamas attack, which killed some 1,200 people and led 251 hostages to Gaza according to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli press commemorates a day that the campaign makes inseparable from the judgment on the government. The legislative elections are set for October 27, in twenty days.

The Jerusalem Post notes that the national mourning remains difficult to share: the official day of commemoration fell on Monday, October 5, while the civil ceremonies, including that of Ganei Yehoshua, take place on Wednesday, October 7. The newspaper sees a disagreement over "who should lead the mourning" and the place of a government that presided over the catastrophe.

The polls place responsibility at the center of the debate. According to N12, 65% of those surveyed believe that Benjamin Netanyahu bears "great personal responsibility" and 66% support a state commission of inquiry (93% of opposition voters, 37% of coalition voters). The Israel Democracy Institute notes that 62% of Israelis consider the 7-October central to their voting choice; its president, Yohanan Plesner, considers the commission "essential". Former hostage Gadi Moses, 82, accuses the Prime Minister of opposing it because of its political consequences. Haaretz writes that the officials who dismissed the warnings are still in office and that the government is delaying an independent investigation; families of victims and hostages demonstrated on Wednesday to demand it.

Rome, October 7, 2026. For the Italian press, the third anniversary of October 7 is first and foremost seen through the Israeli ballot boxes. ANSA writes that Israel is preparing for "a week of commemorations, events, protests, and processions," and that "the failure of the security apparatus and the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu continues to haunt the Israelis." The October 27 vote will be, according to the agency, the first since the Hamas attack and the offensive that resulted in "tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths" in Gaza; mourning and frustration will play their part.

The agency emphasizes the personal responsibility of the Prime Minister: a candidate again despite his age, cancer, and 19 years of cumulative mandates, he would be the only one not to have acknowledged his share of responsibility, unlike former IDF chief Herzi Halevi and former Shin Bet director Ronen Bar. ANSA also mentions old and new accusations, launched by Israeli media hostile to "Bibi" and by international titles, which reproach him for having been warned. It humanizes the day through the small tricycle of Ariel Bibas, exhibited at "The Space Left Behind": he, his brother Kfir, and their mother Shiri never returned from captivity.

La Repubblica, from Jerusalem, headlines an "Israel divided in two" and government alerts: possible threat from Gaza, from the West Bank where the army is on high alert, from Iran where suspicious activities would have been intercepted, or by air, after the failed attack on the Flydubai flight.

Amsterdam, October 7, 2026. For the Dutch press, the third anniversary of October 7 is first and foremost seen through the lens of Israel from the inside, a country divided as it approaches elections. NRC, in a report published on October 6, notes that "directly after the attack" in 2023, the country was united, but that "there is now little left of that." Israelis are now strongly divided, both on the future of the country and on the memory of the victims.

The newspaper focuses on the site of the Nova festival, near the Gaza Strip, which has become a place of remembrance after the death of hundreds of partygoers in the attack carried out from Gaza under the direction of Hamas. For Simhat Torah, hundreds of young women and teenagers dance there at night, separated from men by a fence. Apart from the crowd, Iris Shapira, a 54-year-old lawyer, holds up protest signs. "This is a place of mourning and pain for the families," she says: according to her, the participants "should not dance on their blood."

On October 7, an NRC podcast with editor Derk Walters poses the central question of the election: how could the attack have occurred with Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister, "the man who guaranteed security for Israelis"? The title states it bluntly: October 7 will determine the political future of Netanyahu. The report also mentions the hope of some Israelis that the elections will bring about change.

Lisbon, October 7, 2026. For the Portuguese press, the third anniversary of the Hamas attack is first and foremost a moment of Israeli domestic politics. SAPO Notícias headlines: "Three years after October 7 and on the eve of elections, Israel is divided as before." The site recalls that Hamas militants entered Israel from the Gaza Strip, killed 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages.

SAPO notes that this is the first anniversary where Israelis no longer expect the return of the hostages. They can talk about the trauma in the past, but also start thinking about the future, just a few days before the October 27 legislative elections. According to the article, 68% of Israeli Jews consider the event central to their vote. Families and survivors are preparing protests and tributes, recalling that many questions remain unanswered. In Tel Aviv, the Square of the Hostages extinguished its clock, a symbol of the end of captivity.

Observador's live report, according to the Times of Israel, states that the ceremonies begin at 6:29 local time, the time the attack started. One is being held at Kibbutz Re'im, where the Nova music festival was taking place: Hamas killed 378 people and took 44 hostages there. The same live report mixes this event with other fronts: two deaths in Russian strikes on Kiev, Houthi fire near Aden airport.

Doha, October 7, 2026. On the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack, Qatari media is covering the event in two very uneven ways. Al Jazeera aired a short video report: Israelis gathered in front of memorials at the exact moment when the Hamas attack on border communities began. The channel recalled that "nearly 1,200 people" were killed in several locations and that 250 people were taken captive to Gaza. The tone is subdued, with no comment on the Israeli election campaign.

The main focus is elsewhere. Doha News published an analysis titled "Three years after October 7, Israeli expansionism continues unabated." The text starts with a fact: when the ceasefire was signed in October 2025, Israel controlled about 53% of Gaza, and it has taken advantage of the truce to expand its grip. The media notes that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called this week for a permanent ceasefire, while a truce has already been in place for nearly a year.

The figures cited paint a human toll. Since the truce, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed, or about four per day; the total exceeds 74,000. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics cited by Doha News, 82% of Gaza's buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including 134,422 completely destroyed. Images from Google Maps released at the end of September show, the author writes, a territory that resembles a demolition site.

Stockholm, October 7, 2026. On the third anniversary of the Hamas attack, the Swedish press articulates two registers: the mourning of a traumatized country and the political battle that opens three weeks before the October 27 elections.

Expressen describes ceremonies organized throughout Israel "in memory of the victims of the massive Hamas terrorist attack." The daily gives the floor to Ron Segev, 41, a survivor of the Nova festival: "I thought we were going to die, but, miraculously, the attackers didn't see us." He says he has only just come out of depression, panic attacks, and sleep disorders a year ago. In Svenska Dagbladet, writer Lizzie Scheja, from the Judisk Kultur i Sverige association, recounts how the hatred that appeared after October 7 "overwhelmed" the Swedish Jewish community, and mentions the Göteborg Book Fair, which took place a week before the attack.

The heart of the coverage lies in a dispatch taken up by Expressen, Aftonbladet, and SvD, "Three years after October 7: Israelis are waiting for answers." More than half of the Israelis surveyed want an independent state commission; in July, the Parliament adopted a law instituting a politically appointed investigation. Netanyahu refused the independent commission, and the group of close associates The October Council considers this law to be made "to bury the truth." Anders Persson, a Middle East specialist at Linné University, estimates that the Prime Minister "probably fears the conclusions"; Isabell Schierenbeck, a professor at the University of Göteborg, mentions 60 to 80% of the population in favor of an independent investigation and "enormous anger," including among the inhabitants of the north who were evacuated.

London, 7 October 2026. On the third anniversary of the Hamas attack, the British press prioritizes the accounts of survivors and communities over Israel's electoral calendar.

The BBC visits the kibbutz Nir Oz, approximately 1.6 km from the Gaza border, which had 400 residents. In the deserted dining hall, "birds now nest" among the ceiling tiles. Mailboxes bear stickers posted after the attack: red for the dead, black for hostages. "One in four of us: murdered or kidnapped," summarizes Dalit Ram Aharon, "including children and babies." With her husband Achi and their three children, she survived by staying near twelve hours in her shelter. The charred house of the Siman Tov family remains in its state: Tamar and Yonatan were shot through the door of their air raid shelter, designed against rockets, not small arms fire. Their three children, five-year-old twins and a two-year-old boy, are featured in the photograph displayed there. The report raises the question that residents are asking: how to rebuild.

The Guardian shifts its gaze to Australia. On 7 October, hundreds of people gathered at Bondi Pavilion in Sydney at 6:29, the time the attack began. Israel's ambassador, Hillel Newman, stated that "the trauma of this day will stay with us forever" and that the past three years had revealed "deep-seated hatred" towards Israel and Jews. He acknowledged "tense" relations with Canberra and expressed a desire to "perhaps even reset the relationship" to return to a "traditional friendship". The director of StandWithUs Australia, Michael Gencher, links the date to the Bondi Beach massacre, which made hatred "more visible and more dangerous".

Washington, October 7, 2026. In the United States, the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack is first treated as a story of mourning, through two publications: an op-ed in Time magazine and a video report by NBC News.

The Time text, dated October 6, is signed by Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. She writes: "I will always be the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin," and recalls that her son was kidnapped at a music festival, then held for 328 days in Gaza. According to her account, his captors executed him with five other hostages in a tunnel under Gaza. His body was returned to her in a bag, with signs of torture and six bullet wounds. She describes a time frozen in place: "I am stuck in time. I always will be."

The op-ed also deals with how those around her react to her grief. Those close to her, she writes, want her family to be "better" emotionally, psychologically, mentally, and spiritually. She compares this situation to that of the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, who also receive well-intentioned condolences a quarter of a century later. She remembers the morning of September 11, 2001, in Berkeley, California, where Hersh, 11 months old, was babbling in his bed. The text itself thus mixes Israeli memory and American memory.

NBC News devotes a 3-minute, 43-second video to this anniversary, titled "Remembering the impact on the ground three years after the October 7th attacks on Israel." The presenter recalls that 1,200 people were killed in the "terror attacks" and that 251 others were taken hostage in Gaza. Reporter Raf Sanchez covered the day in Israel. The retrieved text is limited to this balance and presentation. It contains no comments on the Israeli elections of October 27 or the investigation commission that Benjamin Netanyahu refuses.

Montevideo, October 7, 2026. In Uruguay, the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack is told through two articles, from La Diaria and El Observador, which do not address the Israeli legislative elections or the commission of inquiry, but rather the aftermath of October 7 outside of Israel and in the West Bank.

El Observador reports on the event organized on Tuesday, October 6, by the Israeli embassy in Montevideo, where tribute was paid to the victims and the documentary #Nova, dedicated to the attack on the music festival, was screened. Ambassador Eldad Hayet stated that his country and the Jewish community "continue to face threats." He added: "The effects of October 7 have fractured not only Israeli society, but also all Jewish communities around the world. Here too, in Uruguay, the Jewish community has had to face rising antisemitism, threats, harassment, and fear." The newspaper refers to Hamas as a "terrorist group" in its presentation of the event.

The other axis of the discourse is that of the representation of facts. According to Hayet, Israel is facing "the front of disinformation," a battle to prevent "victims from being turned into perpetrators" and those responsible from being presented as doctors, journalists, or teachers. He warned that the documentary contained "highly sensitive" material, shown to prevent "reality from being distorted."