President Donald Trump speaks during a Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“Genuine and durable security for Israel is the foundation on which any peace must be built, and it is the surest guarantee that no October 7 will ever happen again,” the Board of Peace said.
By JNS
The Board of Peace on Wednesday marked the third anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, as it vowed to create conditions for a “lasting peace” through the demilitarization and deradicalization of the Gaza Strip.
“Three years ago today, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and carried out a massacre of staggering cruelty,” the U.S.-backed Board wrote in a statement posted to X.
“Some 1,200 people were murdered in their homes, at a music festival, and in their communities, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza.”
The Board noted that over the past year, the final captives were returned, even after “many observers had said it could not be done.”
“President Donald Trump said otherwise, making the return of every hostage the first demand of his plan,” it stated, adding that Trump “fulfilled his commitment to the people of Israel.”
The organization said Washington’s ongoing efforts for peace in Gaza, as backed by the United Nations Security Council, are grounded in “pragmatic solutions, not statements or slogans.”
The Board added that it mourned the “immense loss of life and profound suffering endured by Israelis and Palestinians” in the war unleashed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“Genuine and durable security for Israel is the foundation on which any peace must be built, and it is the surest guarantee that no October 7 will ever happen again,” it said.
“On this solemn day, we renew that commitment, in memory of those we lost and for the sake of all who deserve to live in security and peace.”
Hamas hails Oct. 7 as ‘military miracle,’ urges wider attacks
The spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Ubaida, marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Wednesday by calling the massacre a “military miracle” and claiming it shattered Israel’s deterrence and security doctrine.
Abu Ubaida also called for broader regional action against Israel, citing Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran and saying there was “no excuse” for others not to act.
He also raised the possibility of opening an additional “western front” against Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his Cabinet on Tuesday that Hamas will try to challenge Israel ahead of the Oct. 27 national election.
“Precisely because Hamas is so weak, it will try to challenge us with the remainder of its forces ahead of the elections,” the prime minister said.
“We are ready for this. First of all, we will thwart such attempts. And, in any case, we will respond to them with tremendous force if they make this mistake. I say to all our enemies: ‘Look at what we did to you on seven fronts in the War of Revival. Don’t tangle with us.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to be put on heightened alert ahead of the third anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre, citing intelligence indicating that the terror group plans to attack soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
Katz told the military to be ready for “any possible scenario,” according to a statement from his office.
“If, God forbid, our forces are harmed, Hamas and the population of Gaza will be the ones to pay a heavy price—beyond all proportion,” the statement added.
Katz on Monday night revealed that some 4,000 Gazan terrorists who invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, have been eliminated, but around 2,000 remain alive.
Katz said he and Netanyahu had ordered the IDF to “pursue and eliminate all of them—from senior to low-ranking.”
“This is what the murdered and the fallen have commanded us, and this is our duty as a people and as a state—and we will fulfill it,” the defense minister added.
Some 6,000 terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah, as well as unaffiliated Palestinian civilians, infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7, murdering some 1,200 people, wounding thousands and kidnapping 251.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Tuesday for permanent Israeli sovereignty over territory held in Gaza and Lebanon, presenting territorial losses as a necessary penalty for enemies that initiate wars.
“A side that started a war and lost it will lose territory to the victorious side,” Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism Party, told the first National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) held in Jerusalem.
In his address, which came three weeks before Israel’s Oct. 27 general election, Smotrich outlined a postwar agenda combining territorial sovereignty, voluntary emigration from Gaza and greater Israeli independence from Washington.
“I demand that the State of Israel permanently apply its sovereignty over the territories it currently holds, both in Gaza and in Lebanon,” he said.
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