A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Today is October 7, which is a memorial day in Israel. It has been three years since Hamas launched its surprise attacks. This year, Israelis are processing new allegations that Israeli officials got repeated warnings that Hamas was planning an attack. And Israel is warning Hamas could try to attack again. NPR's Daniel Estrin is on the line at a memorial site near the Gaza border. Daniel, tell us about where you're at.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: I am in an outdoor field. It's been transformed into the main memorial site of the October 7 attacks. This is where Hamas attacked the Nova music festival. It was the single deadliest attack of October 7. And so I'm watching parents cleaning the dust off small memorial plaques of their children killed here. There have been small memorial gatherings where friends of victims have cried as they spoke.
And there are a lot of ceremonies across the country today. But what's different this year, A, is that there are a lot of displays of anger at the government as well. We're a few weeks away from Israeli elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a new term. And there have been protesters outside his home today and the homes of Cabinet ministers. I spoke to one mother, Kati Zohar. Her daughter was killed here at this site where I am. She helped create the memorial site, and she says the Israeli government did not contribute any funding.
KATI ZOHAR: Not a shekel. Nothing.
ESTRIN: No member of parliament called...
ZOHAR: None.
ESTRIN: ...You.
ZOHAR: The Israel government - nothing.
ESTRIN: Benjamin Netanyahu?
ZOHAR: No. No. No. Nothing.
ESTRIN: He didn't call you?
ZOHAR: No. Of course (ph), no.
ESTRIN: What do you feel about that?
ZOHAR: Anger.
ESTRIN: Netanyahu refuses to launch a national investigation into what went wrong on October 7, and he blames his security chiefs for failing to detect the threat.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now there's reporting, though - new reporting - that Israel was actually warned that there could be an attack before October 7. What have you learned about that?
ESTRIN: Yeah. I've reported about this with my NPR colleagues. We've spoken to four people in the Middle East who said they had direct knowledge that Netanyahu and his security agencies were repeatedly warned in the months and even in the days leading up to October 7 and the attack. That is also following earlier reporting from Israeli newspaper Haaretz, by The New York Times and by The Atlantic. The warnings came from the leader of the United Arab Emirates, by Egypt's intelligence chief, even from Hamas' leader himself. They all spoke about some kind of unspecified threat of an attack, and Netanyahu denies that he was warned in advance. Today he's warning that Hamas could attack Israel again.
MARTÍNEZ: What about Palestinians? How are they reflecting on today?
ESTRIN: Well, for Gaza, it's not really a ceasefire. Israel still carries out airstrikes nearly every day, killing Hamas militants, killing civilians, women and children as well. Most of Gaza is destroyed today. My colleague Anas Baba is in Gaza, and he spoke to a young man there who didn't want to give his name because he was scared of retribution from Hamas and Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: What do I think about what Hamas did on 7 October? I would say it was reckless, definitely. However, I would also want to say that the Israeli reaction to it was unjustifiably criminal. We literally are still dying because of what happened three years ago.
ESTRIN: I just want to say, A, that everyone who lives here, both in Israel and in Gaza, will tell you they personally know someone who lost their lives - either on October 7 three years ago or in the war since. This is a day that will forever shape people's lives.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in southern Israel, at the site of one of the Hamas attacks three years ago today on October 7. Daniel, thanks.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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