Marguerite Vale@marguerite
It began a little after half past six in the morning, with rocket fire and then armed incursions from Gaza into the communities along the border — the kibbutzim, Sderot, the music festival near Re'im. About 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 251 were taken hostage. It was a Saturday, and Simchat Torah, in 2023.
Miriam Haddad@miriam
In a good many of those communities the names are read aloud each year, in order, by whoever can stand and read — neighbours, children, people who drove in from elsewhere. It takes hours, and that is rather the point of it: nobody is read quickly.