October 7 anniversary: Albanese, Taylor condemn Hamas as hundreds gather for Bondi vigil

Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor have marked the third anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel in remarks condemning the Islamist group behind it.

Hamas militants from Gaza slaughtered and tortured their way across southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200, injuring thousands more and taking hundreds hostage.

The biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, much of the carnage was captured in videos shared online and celebrated by sympathisers.

In a statement mourning the loss of life, including Australian Galit Carbone, the Prime Minister vowed “to never forget what the terrorists perpetrated in all their cruelty”.

“On this dark anniversary, we remember the 1200 who were taken from the world, the largest loss of Jewish life on any single day since the Holocaust,” he said.

“We think of everyone who was dragged into captivity, everyone who never returned home to their families, and everyone forever scarred by what they endured.

“We think of all who lost loved ones, everyone who suffered, and those who entered that most agonising of vigils, struggling to bear the weight of hope as they waited for news of their loved ones held hostage.”

Mr Albanese said “Australia stands with the Jewish community here and across the world”.

“We stand against anti-Semitism and racism in all its forms because it goes against who we are,” he said.

“We stand against Hamas, which must disarm and play no role in Palestine’s future.”

With pro-Palestine demonstrations planned for Australia’s biggest cities, the Opposition Leader criticised “those who seek to portray the victim, Israel, as the villain and portray the villain, Hamas, as the victim”.

“There are those who deceitfully accuse Israel of genocide, yet turn a blind eye to groups and regimes with real genocidal intent,” Mr Taylor said.

“Such perversions of the truth and lack of moral clarity help to fuel anti-Semitism and make it permissible.

“The fight against anti-Semitism is therefore a fight for the truth – a fight that continues on our soil too.

“And that fight is also about acknowledging and combating all sources of anti-Semitism, especially Islamist extremism.”

The Israeli government is facing accusations of genocide because of its relentless military response in Gaza – claims it denies and has not been found guilty of by the International Court of Justice.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, with most victims women and children, according to independent monitors.

Gaza’s some 2.1m residents now live among rubble, desperate for food and medical supplies amid Israel’s chokehold on aid.

The situation has sparked global protests that have platformed anti-Semitic rhetoric, including in Australia where chants of “death to IDF” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” are commonplace.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said October 7 “exposed the rank hypocrisy of human rights advocates who lined up to explain why rape and murder were resistance in certain cases”.

“It brutally showed the world that the days of Jewish torment, of women dragged to captivity, of decapitation, pack rape and thrill killing, did not belong to history,” he said.

“For those who hate Jews and long craved to see them get what was coming to them, October 7 was euphoric.

“We saw it in Lakemba and the (Sydney) Opera House.

“We saw it among religious fanatics, the far-left and the resurgent neo-Nazis.”

Mr Ryvchin said October 7 also showed governments “could not or would not preserve societal harmony” and “brought forth the fracturing of society, making it susceptible to terror and mayhem from Iran, organised crime and domestic extremists”.

“Because of October 7 and the totally unsatisfactory responses to it we now live in another era of terrorism where the unimaginable horror of Bondi can occur and troubled, uncertain times lie ahead for us all,” he said.

Hundreds gathered at Bondi Beach, the site of last year’s Chanukah by the Sea attack, for a vigil early on Wednesday morning.

They held a minute’s silence at 06.29AM.

Bondi vigil images