Israeli President Defends Hamas Disarmament

“Twe are the inherent right to defend ourselves and to fight terrorism. But we look forward to peace and we want our neighbours to live in peace,” Herzog said, defending that the way to achieve this goal is the disarmament of Hamas.

The President of Israel was addressing a crowd of hundreds of people today in Re’im (south), the site of the massacre of the Nova music festival, just five kilometres from the Gaza border, through which thousands of Gazan militiamen crossed on October 7, 2023.

At the site, Herzog lamented that space had become “a horrible obituary”.

Of the about 1,200 people killed by the Gaza militias a year ago, 364 were at the festival.

“ It is still difficult to understand how they were taken away with so much evil and barbarism ", lamented Herzog in his speech. “The wound engraved in your hearts will never heal. But the strength of spirit, nobility and power that they discover and create also impress us”.

The ceremony featured several musical performances, including that of singer Yuval Rafael, survivor of the massacre in the Nova and representative of Israel in the Eurovision musical contest in 2025.

One of the 251 hostages captured by the militia a year ago, the Colombian-Israelite Elkana Bohbot, conducted a prayer during the ceremony. Bohbot was released in October 2025, under the ceasefire agreement which completes a year this Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not attend the ceremony or any public event today.

In recent weeks, the Israeli press released information indicating that Netanyahu had received alerts before the massacre about the possibility of a large-scale attack by Hamas from Gaza — something he denies, claiming that the high command of the Army did not wake him up before the attack took place at 6:29 a.m.

Three years later, Israel has not yet set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the failures that led to the massacre.

Since then, Israel has maintained an offensive in Gaza in which more than 74,200 Palestinians have died, according to figures from Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from the civilian movement.