World marks 3 years since Oct. 7 with vows to stand with Israel, combat antisemitism

World leaders on Wednesday marked three years since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Israel, writing on social media: “Three years ago today, Hamas terrorists tortured, mutilated, and murdered 1,200 innocent civilians in Israel. Among those slain were men, women, and children—including dozens of Americans.”

Rubio described the cross-border attack as an “act of barbarism against an ally” and called on the nation to “recommit ourselves to the defense of civilization.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem marked the anniversary of the massacre, stating on X that it remembers “the innocent lives murdered by Hamas terrorists” while honoring “the heroes who risked everything to save others.”

“We remember. We stand with Israel,” the post concluded.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X that the Hamas attack “marks a profound rupture” and that Germany commemorates the victims and shares their pain.

“We must confront antisemitism with even greater resolve,” Merz said. “Jewish women and men should be able to live here without fear.”

European Council President António Costa paid tribute to the victims of the “horrific Hamas attacks,” pledging to “never forget” the atrocities.

“We pay tribute to the Israeli and foreign citizens massacred that day and stand with their families and loved ones. We also remember the injured and those taken hostage,” the former prime minister of Portugal wrote on X.

“We will never forget. Nothing can justify such terror, and it must never happen again. The EU will always defend Israel’s right to exist in peace and security. The two-State solution remains the only viable path to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by condemning the Hamas assault as a “barbaric act of terror” and reiterating European support for Israel.

“Today, we stand with Israel in remembering every life taken and destroyed at the hands of the Hamas terrorists,” Kallas wrote in an X post. “Our thoughts are with the victims, the survivors, their families and all those who continue to carry the pain of that terrible day.”

Kallas, the E.U.’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, also issued a call to counter antisemitism and demanded that Hamas surrender its weapons.

“We must firmly reject any form of antisemitism across Europe. Jewish communities must be able to live openly, safely and without fear,” she wrote, adding that “Hamas must disarm so that the Gaza Peace Plan to move forward.”

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten marked the anniversary by condemning the initial assault while claiming that “tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since the Hamas attack.”

Writing on social media, Jetten remembered the nearly 1,200 people killed and more than 250 taken hostage in what he called a “horrific terrorist attack.”

“All of them ordinary Israelis, attacked by unimaginable violence at a festival, in their own homes, on the street, or wherever they were,” Jetten said.

The Dutch leader pointed to the broader toll of the war, saying the region descended into a “spiral of conflict and misery” while asserting that the Israel Defense Forces killed tens of thousands of “innocent Palestinians.” Jerusalem rejects the claim, maintaining that the IDF targets terrorists and works to avoid civilian harm, while placing ultimate responsibility for all noncombatant deaths on Hamas for embedding its operatives in civilian neighborhoods.

“These are horrifying, hopeless figures. Because there is no goal that justifies this violence, and above all, no suffering that is alleviated by it,” Jetten wrote. “All grieving families know this, both Israeli and Palestinian. They live in fear and insecurity. I wish them peace. In their land and in their hearts.”

Geert Wilders, founder and leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, issued a scathing response to Jetten’s statement, writing on X, “You are no friend but a traitor to Israel and the Jewish people with your boycotts, condemnations, ICC support and sanctions.”

“And you leave our own borders wide open so that what happened in Israel can happen here tomorrow too,” the opposition figure added. “Get lost with your cheap hypocritical nonsense.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong singled out Australian Galit Carbone in an X post remembering the victims of “Hamas’ horrific terror attacks on Israel.”

“Our thoughts remain with her loved ones and all affected by Hamas’ abhorrent acts,” wrote Wong, who also serves as leader of the government in the Senate.

“We continue to work to combat antisemitism and terror in all its forms,” she added.

French President Emmanuel Macron noted that 51 fellow citizens were among those murdered in “the barbaric terrorist attacks by Hamas.”

Macron wrote in an X post that the nation shares “the grief of the State of Israel and the bereaved families,” pledging Paris’s commitment to “combating antisemitism and terrorism, everywhere and always, working for peace and the security of all.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he was in Israel to mark the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, paying tribute to the victims, including the 51 French citizens killed in the onslaught.

In a social-media post, Barrot described the assault as “the worst antisemitic massacre since the Shoah” and vowed that France would remember those who died.

“We will never forget them,” Barrot wrote. “Nothing will erase either their faces or their names.”

French politician Bruno Retailleau also traveled to Israel to pay homage at the site of the Nova music festival, writing on X that the massacre at the site was a “Bataclan in the open air,” referring to the Paris venue that was the the site of the November 13, 2015, Islamist terror attack that killed 90 concertgoers.

The former French interior minister and 2027 presidential candidate for The Republicans, wrote, “Thousands of innocent young people were dancing at dawn; 364 of them were massacred by Hamas terrorists, others kidnapped and tortured. Because they were Jewish.”

“That morning, more than 1,200 people were coldly murdered, the vast majority civilians, and 251 taken hostage: children, women, the elderly. 51 French nationals died, on October 7 or in captivity, in what was the worst pogrom since the Shoah,” Retailleau wrote.

“I came to Israel to honor their memory, to gather with their families, and to share their pain. I came to tell them that despite the resurgence of antisemitism, which shames our history, there is a France that does not forget, a France that does not downplay the atrocities committed that day by Hamas terrorists, a France that seeks no excuses for Islamist barbarity. And that France is the overwhelming majority of the French people. Before their faces and their names, I make this solemn vow: we will not forget you.”

French National Rally parliamentary leader Marine Le Pen condemned the assault as a “day of infamy” and criticized those who sought to rationalize the violence.

In a statement posted to social media, Le Pen described the 2023 attack as an act of antisemitic hatred, writing that “men, women, and children were killed solely because they were Jewish.”

“No one has forgotten those scenes of unimaginable barbarity that brutally recalled the pogroms we believed belonged to the tragic history of humanity,” Le Pen wrote. “No one will forget those who, by supporting the unsupportable, excusing it, or relativizing it, crossed the threshold of inhumanity.”

The French conservative leader added that her thoughts are with the “mourning and remembrance of the Israeli people struck to the core” as well as the families of the victims.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa wrote on X that on Oct. 7 “Palestinian terrorists unleashed unspeakable barbarism on Israel,” killing men, women and children because of their Israeli nationality.

“We remember the victims. We stand with their families, with the people of Israel and with Jewish communities around the world,” he stated.

“We must continue to speak out against every attempt to justify, excuse or relativise the atrocities of that day. As well as against the antisemitism that too often lies behind such attempts,” Jansa continued. “Terrorism can never be justified. Antisemitism must never be tolerated. Never again is not merely a promise. It is a duty.”

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama recalled his visit earlier this year to the site of the Nova music festival, writing on X that “for the families whose loved ones were murdered by the butchers of Hamas... that morning has never truly ended”.

Invoking Besa—the traditional Albanian code of honor under which Albanians sheltered Jews during the Holocaust—Rama said that history demands friends remain steadfast.

“It demands that memory never surrender to indifference, that grief never be abandoned to loneliness, that antisemitism never again be allowed to hide behind silence, slogans or excuses, and that we remain faithful to our friends even through their darkest hours,” Rama wrote. “May the memory of your loved ones be an eternal blessing.”