Israelis demand accountability over 7 October failures three years after attacks

What the report says

Residents and relatives in Kfar Aza and elsewhere in Israel are marking the third anniversary of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks while renewing demands for accountability over the security failures that allowed them to happen. BBC World News reports that the assault killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage to Gaza, with Kfar Aza among the communities hardest hit. The pain remains acute for families who lost loved ones, and some say they want the state to explain what went wrong and who should answer for it.

According to the BBC, there is still no independent state inquiry into the events surrounding the attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in office at the time, has refused to accept personal responsibility and has not ordered such an investigation. He has instead blamed security chiefs for failing to alert him in time, while his office has rejected reports suggesting he received advance warnings from regional leaders. The article also notes that several military and intelligence figures have since resigned, been removed, or publicly apologised.

The debate matters because it goes beyond one day of violence and has become a wider argument over Israel’s security doctrine, political leadership and decision-making before the war. Campaigners are now pressing the country’s highest court to compel the government to set up a formal commission of inquiry. Separately, some critics say the long-standing policy of containing Hamas in Gaza left major questions about how the threat developed before the attack.