One year after Hamas launched its deadly 7 October attacks on Israel, the conflict they sparked threatens to engulf not only the Palestinian territories but the wider region. As Israel escalates its strikes on Lebanon and vows retaliation against Iran, countries around the world are on heightened alert in readiness for a tense anniversary.
"We are prepared with increased forces in anticipation for this day," Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a televised briefing over the weekend, warning there could be "attacks on the home front".
At least one person was killed and several others wounded in a shooting in southern Israel on Sunday, which police said they were treating as a suspected terrorist attack.
The Israeli military said it had deployed extra troops to protect southern communities and areas bordering Gaza over the coming days.
Israel also stepped up its air strikes on Lebanese capital Beirut in the days leading up to Monday's anniversary and signalled it was preparing to respond to last week's missile attack by Iran – drawing fresh threats from Tehran and prompting fears that the year-old conflict is about to enter a new and even more dangerous phase.
A bloody year
The surprise attacks that Hamas launched on 7 October 2023 killed more than 1,200 Israelis and set off a war that has shattered the Gaza Strip.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has so far killed nearly 42,000 people in the Hamas-controlled territory, according to the Gazan health ministry.
Swathes of Gaza have been reduced to rubble, and nearly all of its 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the past year, half of them in the past week alone. The Lebanese government estimates that around 1.2 million people have been displaced, including hundreds of thousands who have fled to Syria.
Israel says over 60,000 people have been displaced since Hamas ally Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon, while around 350 of its soldiers have been killed since the start of its ground offensive in Gaza in late October 2023.
It lost 1,205 people in the Hamas attack that month, most of them civilians. Of 251 Israeli hostages seized on 7 October, nearly 100 remain in Gaza, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive.
Unhealed wounds
Several events are planned in Israel to commemorate the deadly assault, including a memorial service in the south led by President Isaac Herzog and a televised tribute.
"Our wounds still cannot fully heal because they are ongoing. Because hostages are still being tortured, executed, and dying in captivity," Herzog said in a statement issued on Saturday.
"Because they and their families are still living in the loss and the terror of 7 October right at these very moments... In many senses, we are all still living the aftermath of 7 October."
Several of the bereaved are planning a rival event in Tel Aviv to demand action to secure the release of remaining hostages and draw attention to the state's failures.
Some of the kibbutz communities that lost members in the attacks also said they would boycott the official ceremonies in favour of private memorials.
Global protests
In France, President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot plan to meet families of French-Israeli victims on Monday.
Paris and other French cities saw protests over the weekend in support of Palestinians, alongside others in London, Rome, Istanbul, Jakarta, New York, Caracas, Cape Town and elsewhere.
Demonstrations are expected to continue on Monday.
Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that protests could turn violent or the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks.
Earlier this week, France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned regional prefects about possible tensions, saying that the terrorist threat was high.
(with newswires)
