By Sarah Spina-Matthews in Sydney

Hundreds of people have gathered at Bondi Beach to mark the third anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

The massacre, which largely took place at a music festival and several kibbutz across Israel’s south, left 1200 dead and resulted in 251 people taken hostage by the Gaza-based militant group Hamas.

Following prayers at a service at the Bondi Pavilion, Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman remembered the moment he found out about the attack, which took place at 6.29am Israel time.

He said his brother-in-law told him: “Everything is changing … we’re in a war”.

“Young Israelis went out to dance at the Nova Music Festival and never came home.

“Israelis who believed in peace … they were all murdered just for being Jews and Israelis.

The attack has since taken on a more visceral and immediate fear after the carnage on Bondi beach.

He said there was a “direct line” between the attack on October 7 and the Bondi Beach attack, where 15 people were gunned down, including a 10-year-old girl and an elderly Holocaust survivor, at a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach.

NSW Opposition Leader Kelly Sloane since the October 7 attack, evil and hate had come “closer to home”.

“Our community has woken up again and again to graffiti, vandalism, firebombings,” she said.

She said she would “never leave the side” of the Jewish community and the community of Bondi following last year’s attack.

“As terrible as it was, I am glad to be there … with our Bondi community, our Jewish community.”

Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said the brutal violence in Israel had an immense impact on Australian Jews that was solidified after the Bondi massacre.

“October 7 is a day of mourning for the more than 1200 innocent people murdered when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, massacring families in their homes, hunting down young people at a music festival…and dragging men, women, children and the elderly into Gaza as hostages.”

“Terror and antisemitism will not define Jewish life in Australia. We will continue to live proudly and openly as Jews, and nothing these groups do will weaken the bond between Australian Jewry, Australia and Israel.”

For pro-Palestine supporters, it’s a time to draw attention to the ensuing escalation of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 74,000 people and wounded 175,000, according to the local health ministry.

One of the groups organising a vigil at Sydney’s Town Hall is Jews against Occupation representing dissident Jewish voices, with the event entitled “Don’t let Israel steal the date.”

It has been widely condemned as highly inflammatory and insensitive by political leaders including Premier Chris Minns, who has been a steadfast supporter of pro-Israel groups.

News all day, every day at CityNewsQBN.com.au.