Jerusalem, Undefined — Israel came to a standstill Thursday as sirens echoed across the nation in tribute to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
At 10:00 am local time (0700 GMT), Israelis observed two minutes of silence for their Holocaust Remembrance Day, with traffic halting, pedestrians standing still, and daily life pausing in symbolic honour of all those who perished.
The commemoration, held each year in April or May in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, is separate from International Holocaust Remembrance Day which is marked on January 27.
The official ceremonies began Wednesday evening with a state event at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, attended by President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials.
Using the solemn occasion to underscore current national challenges, Netanyahu delivered a politically charged address as Israel's ongoing war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza stretches into its 19th month.
"Anyone who feared that after the massacre of October 7 we would be facing another Holocaust has seen how we turned the tables," Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas's deadly 2023 attack which saw the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
"On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, I pledge that the military pressure on Hamas will continue."
"We will destroy all its capabilities, bring all our hostages back, defeat Hamas and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said, wearing a traditional Jewish kippah head covering.
Throughout Thursday, memorial events will take place across schools, government institutions, military bases and in the Knesset.
Later in the day, President Herzog is set to participate in the March of the Living at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in southern Poland.
On Wednesday, an Israeli government body supporting Holocaust survivors said 120,507 of them were living in Israel, down nearly 10 percent from last year's figure.
In April 2024, the number stood at 133,362 survivors of the Nazi persecution of Jews eight decades ago.
The day of remembrance will officially conclude at sunset.
