Vigils, protests around the world commemorate the anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel

NEW YORK — (AP) — Commemorations and protests unfolded across the world on Monday to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, an assault that sparked a war that has devastated the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip, fueled hostilities and bloodshed in other Mideast lands and ignited protests and divisions in farflung countries.

Those divisions were visible in New York, where a crowd gathered for an evening remembrance ceremony in Central Park even as a blocks-long column of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through midtown Manhattan.

Hamas militants' surprise cross-border attack last year killed about 1,200 people. Another 250 were taken hostage; around 100 remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. The attack, on a major Jewish holiday, shattered Israelis' sense of security and left the world facing the prospect of a major conflict in the Middle East.

Israel responded by waging a war against the Hamas militants in Gaza, where the fighting has killed over 41,000 people and displaced around 1.9 million. The conflict has spread in the region, where Israel now also is fighting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, facing escalating threats from Yemen's Houthi rebels and contending with a mounting conflict with Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The Hamas-Israel war also has spurred demonstrations and stirred tensions in many U.S. locales, including college campuses and major cities.

In New York, protesters spread a large Palestinian flag on a street near the New York Stock Exchange early Monday afternoon, while a smaller group of counterprotesters held an Israeli flag. The pro-Palestinian group grew as it marched through Manhattan streets, avenues and landmarks, at one point holding a banner that read “war begets war” on the steps of the New York Public Library.

Associated Press journalists saw several people being taken into police custody at various points in the march. Police said multiple arrests were made; no further information was immediately available.

Meanwhile, New York’s mayor and governor were among those expected to attend the remembrance ceremony in Central Park.

At Philadelphia's Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, Ellie Solomon was among a group of high school students who viewed an exhibition about the Tribe of Nova music festival in Re'im, Israel, where hundreds were killed.

“I feel like that really could have been me there,” said Solomon, who attends The Pingry School in New Jersey. Many festival attendees were close to her age, she noted.

“They all had very full lives, like lots of life ahead of them, just like we do," she said, adding that “it’s important for us to remember them and honor them because they didn’t deserve anything that happened to them.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also toured the exhibition, saying that he hoped it gave visitors “an understanding of what really happened.”

“I think that in some segments of our society, we don’t have that knowledge,” said Shapiro, a Democrat. He added that he hoped visitors emerged “more tolerant, a bit more understanding and more committed to finding peace in our society and peace across the globe.”

The nations of Europe, home to many Jewish and Muslim communities, have sought to tamp down both antisemitic and anti-Muslim sentiment.

The German chancellery in Berlin was adorned Monday with a yellow ribbon commemorating the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, around 100 of whom remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. The names of the people killed and kidnapped in the attack on Israel were read out in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said to Germany's "dear friends in Israel" that "we feel with you … we stand beside you." Speaking to a conference in Hamburg, Scholz also pointed to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

In Italy, Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has voiced strong support for Israel, visited the main synagogue in Rome. She reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself, while insisting that the country respect international law and lamenting the devastation unleashed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

She denounced what she called “latent and rampant antisemitism,” pointing to pro-Palestinian protests that sometimes turned violent in Italy this weekend.

French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris with relatives of hostages and of people killed in the Oct. 7 attacks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot attended a memorial service at the site of the Nova music festival.

The Vatican marked the anniversary by taking up a collection for the people of Gaza and publishing a letter from Pope Francis to Catholics in the region, expressing his solidarity.

In Poland's capital of Warsaw, the Jewish community paid tribute to Alex Dancyg, a Polish-born Holocaust educator and historian who was abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7. Israel believes he died in captivity.

In Australia, thousands of people remembered the Oct. 7 dead by attending vigils in Sydney and Melbourne, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joining the latter event. Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters had rallied across Australia’s cities on Sunday, and hundreds gathered amid a heavy police presence Monday night at Sydney town hall for a vigil for Palestinian lives lost in the conflict.

In Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, schoolchildren took part in a pro-Palestinian rally organized by the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League party.

Japanese officials demanded the immediate release of all hostages and expressed condolences to Israelis who lost family members in the Hamas attacks.

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Vejpongsa reported from Philadelphia and Spike from Budapest, Hungary. Associated Press journalists Jennifer Peltz, John Minchillo and Ted Shaffrey in New York, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Diane Jeantet in Paris, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.

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