GRIEVING families paid moving tribute to Hamas terror victims on the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks amid a huge security operation today.
Loved ones of the dead paused for a chillingly poignant vigil at exactly 6.29am – the moment the massacres of 1,200 and kidnapping of 251 began exactly a year earlier.
A woman sobs as she holds the photos of two victims[/caption]
Images of those killed and taken hostage at the Nova Festival site[/caption]
Two women comfort each other at the scene[/caption]
Devastated families pay their respects at a vigil[/caption]
A soldier stands guard at the vigil[/caption]
The biggest pageant began before dawn at the Nova Music Festival site at Re’im just three miles from Gaza.
Exactly a year earlier, ravers were raving to a high energy dance track called Pixel by Space Cat when rockets and terrorists aboard paragliders filled the sky.
And yesterday the same track was played on a sound stage then cut short at exactly 6.29am – before a lone woman’s screams pierced the eerie silence.
The harrowing scene symbolised a fraction of the hell which erupted at the site as hundreds of armed Hamas savages stormed the site in an orgy or murder, rape and mutilation.
More than 360 revellers were cut down as they desperately attempted to flee the site.
And many of their families began gathering before dawn today to remember lost loved ones and console each other amid heartbreaking scenes.
Each of the festival victims was commemorated by a photograph above small memorials flickering flames and in the sands of the Negev Desert.
Families – many wearing t-shirts emblazoned with pictures of their lost loved ones – wept and hugged each other tightly in the pre-dawn glow.
The sad commemoration was punctuated by the deafening boom of outgoing Israeli artillery fire into Gaza and the occasion rattle of heavy machine gun fire in the distance.
A massive security operation was launched to protect the site and big guns opened fire to stop Hamas rocketeers triggering mayhem among mourners.
An Apache helicopter gunship hovered overhead backed by drones scouring potential threats and troops and police manned checkpoints leading to the venue.
The huge security presence was stepped up further to shield the arrival of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who arrived on the stroke of 6.29am to console families.
His first lady Michal joined him and fought back tears as she hugged weeping relatives as the sound of weeping and booming big guns filled the air.
Lilting Israeli laments were sung from a small sound stage by Israeli musicians as the emotional throng said prayers with heads bowed.
But tension and constant reminders of Israel’s continuing conflict filled the air throughout the choreographed commemoration.
Mourners at the festival site included Michael and Lisa Marlow – a British couple still reeling from the loss of their 26-year-old son Jake.
Jake was working as an unarmed security assistant on the festival site and was shot nine times as he tried to help other victims escape.
His mum Lisa from Potters Bar, Herts told The Sun: “I’m standing at the spot where my son last spoke to me for the last time exactly a year ago and it breaks my heart into a million pieces.
“But I had to come here because this is the place where I feel closest to him now – it’s become sacred to me.
“It was 4.30am in the morning, UK time, when I last spoke to him. He just said: ‘There’s a lot of rockets and crazy stuff going on mum but I’ll be ok. I’ll call you later.’
“But he never did and that was the last time I ever spoke to him.
“Four days later it was confirmed that he was among the dead and had been killed trying to help others trying to get away from the terrorists.
“That was just what he was like – he’d do anything for anyone.
“He was just a wonderful lad living his best life with everything to look forward to and now he’s been taken from us.”
A man holds his head in his hands at the vigil[/caption]
Two women cry as they look at a tribute to one of the victims[/caption]
Soldiers are pictured as they secure the site of the festival and begin to count bodies[/caption]
Carpenter and musician Jake – who planned to marry – was commemorated by a touching hand-painted stone next to his memorial’s candle which read simply “Love You Son.”
Lisa said had visited the desert festival site five times in the past year to feel close to her lost boy.
And she has formed a close bond with other victims’ relatives, who she hugged in emotional scenes.
Israel Defence Forces chiefs later confirmed they had been forced to take action after detecting Hamas threats to anniversary events close to the border of their Gaza stronghold.
A drone alert also sound in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv before the vigils got under way.
An IDF spokesman said: “Following the identification of Hamas’ intentions to fire projectiles toward Israeli territory, and as a result of advance preparations, the IDF thwarted an immediate threat.
“A short while ago, the IAF struck Hamas launch posts and underground terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip.
“Furthermore, overnight, the IAF and IDF artillery struck targets in the central Gaza Strip that posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.
“The IDF conducts advance assessments of possible Hamas attacks and acts accordingly, offensively and defensively.
“The defensive guidelines of the IDF Homefront Command are lifesaving.”
Tensions had spiralled across the south of the embattled nation as a terrorist gunman killed a woman cop and wounded 11 other commuters at a rail hub on Sunday.
And Hamas launched a rare rocket salvo from its Gaza stronghold in southern Israel close to the spot where commemorative events were due to take place.
Hero cop Sgt Shira Suslik died in hospital after attempting to tackle a gun maniac who went on the rampage outside a train station’s McDonalds in Beersheba.
Ambulance teams said victims with gunshot wounds included another woman in her 20s with serious injuries and four men in their 20s, said to be in moderate condition.
Five more suffered minor injuries when they were struck by flying glass as the terrorist opened fire and three more suffered serious shock during the gun horror.
The attack came just hours before thousands of Israelis were due to attend Nova Festival massacre site at Re’im, 25 miles to the west.
