Leaders mourn dead on October 7 anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel

Anthony Albanese says Jewish Australians have felt “the cold shadows of anti-Semitism” over the past 12 months as he marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel with a condemnation of prejudice and hatred.

The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will attend separate commemorations of the October 7 attacks on Monday.

More than 1200 Jewish people died in the terrorist group’s attack on Israel, another 250 were taken hostage and almost 100 of them are still missing.

In response, Israel unleashed a bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas. Almost 42,000 people have died in Gaza and 1.9 million are displaced.

The conflict has now expanded into Lebanon after Hezbollah and Iran launched separate strikes on Israel.

Mr Albanese said the first anniversary of October 7 was a time to pause and reflect on “the horrific terrorist atrocity that reverberated around the globe”.

In a video message to mark the occasion, he unequivocally condemned the actions of Hamas, saying they had inflicted brutality with cold calculation.

“Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have felt the cold shadows of anti-Semitism reaching into the present day – and as a nation we say never again,” he said.

“We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith.”

The time of mourning should also be cause to reaffirm a shared principle that every innocent life mattered, the Prime Minister said, adding that the number of civilians who had died was a devastating tragedy.

“We recognise the distress the conflict has caused here in Australia. Sorrow knows no boundaries and recognises no differences,” he said.

Mr Dutton, who has been highly critical of the Government’s position on Israel, said the past 12 months had been one of the most difficult periods ever for Jewish Australians.

“Israel was at the epicentre of Hamas’s evil on October 7 last year, but the shockwaves of the terrorist attack resonated around the world,” he said.

“That day of depravity – the greatest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust – awoke and exposed an anti-Semitic rot afflicting Western democracies.

“Israel has every right to defend its territory and its people from existential threats. The Coalition stands with our ally Israel – rather than treating her like an adversary.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles conceded on Sunday, after a week of political argument, that Israel’s right to defend itself included a right to respond to attack from Iran and its terrorist proxies.

The Government has consistently said Israel has a right to defend itself, but Mr Dutton has been attacking Labor for also backing international calls, led by the US, for a ceasefire and de-escalation in the Middle East.

Mr Marles said the assertion Australia had split from the US position was a “patent lie” aimed at sowing community division.

“Israel clearly has a right to defend itself and that does include a right to respond, but the manner in which it defends itself obviously matters,” he told ABC’s Insiders.

Mr Marles again urged Australians in Lebanon, where Israel is striking in a bid to degrade and rout out Hezbollah, to take seats on evacuation flights out of the country.

More than 400 people were taken to Cyprus on Saturday, but the flights were not at full capacity.

Another two flights left Lebanon on Sunday, and Qantas and Qatar Airways are helping people return from Cyprus to Australia.