A national state ceremony commemorating the fallen soldiers in the Israel-Hamas War took place on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl on Thursday, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog remembered the fallen and addressed bereaved families.
In Netanyahu’s address, he stated that after the war, “one thing is clear: anyone who raises a hand against us now knows they will pay a very heavy price for their aggression.”
The ceremony was held as part of the state’s national mourning day, marking two years since the October 7 Hamas massacre in 2023. It was attended by the country’s ministers, politicians, and senior IDF officials.
Netanyahu called on the country to be united, as “great challenges still remain ahead.”
'We will achieve all our goals'
“We will achieve all our goals only through internal cohesion, mutual responsibility, and by strengthening what unites us over what divides us,” he said.
Regarding the remaining slain hostages still held by Hamas, Netanyahu said, “We are committed to bringing them all back, every last one of them.”
Netanyahu spoke on the events of October 7, calling it a “monstrous murder in every sense of the word, a merciless slaughter of babies, children, adults, and the elderly.”
“We know, bereaved families, that nothing can replace those we have lost, and the terrible loss tears at our hearts. Yet we also know that thanks to the immense legacy left by the fallen, each one of them holds a place in the eternity of Israel,” he said.
“The remembrance of the fallen will be engraved within us for the coming generations,” Netanyahu said.
President Isaac Herzog also gave an address at the ceremony in which he expressed his gratitude to those who served and have fallen and to the bereaved families.
“Thank you on behalf of the State of Israel. Thank you for the sons you raised, warriors of courage who did not hesitate when called to rescue the State of Israel, to defeat the enemy, and to bring the hostages home," Herzog said.
“Because of our brave sons and daughters, because of the bereaved families, because of the wounded who sacrificed so much, because of all of them, we are here. We will never, ever forget this,” Herzog said.
He added that the “mission is not complete” as Israel “must do everything through every possible means to ensure that all the fallen hostages, every last one, are brought back to their families, to their homeland, and to eternal rest.”
The ceremony comes as part of a day of national mourning, which began with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana lighting a memorial candle, as the flags in the Knesset were lowered to half-mast.
An additional state ceremony will take place in the afternoon, marking those who were murdered on October 7 and throughout the war.
Kibbutz Kfar Aza will hold a separate ceremony commemorating the 64 kibbutz members who were murdered during the October 7 massacre.