Two years ago today, on October 7, 2023, the State of Israel was subjected to a deliberate and systematic act of terror. More than 3,000 terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other jihadist groups breached Israel’s borders by land, air, and sea, launching one of the worst massacres of civilians in modern history.
The war launched by Hamas and the subsequent battles in Gaza has led to the loss of life of innocent people on both sides.
On October 7, entire families were slaughtered in their homes. Concertgoers were hunted down in open fields. At least 1,200 innocent people were murdered, including infants, children, the elderly, and attendees of a music festival. More than 250 civilians were kidnapped into Gaza.
For nearly two decades before that morning, our twin city of Ashkelon had already lived under frequent rocket fire from Gaza. The October 7 massacre marked the culmination of that same campaign of hatred and violence.
We remember the victims of October 7. We continue to call for the release of the hostages still held two years later. Here in Côte Saint-Luc, we named Alexandre Look Place in memory of the Montrealer who was killed that day while defending others at the Nova Music Festival. We have also created a space in that park to remember the Bibas infants, Ariel and Kfir, who were taken hostage with their mother and later murdered. These local acts of remembrance ensure that their names, their faces, and their stories will never be forgotten.