In the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks, the world grappled to come to terms with the atrocities that swept southern Israel during the morning hours of an otherwise nondescript Saturday. And as videos and photos of the devastation wrought by Hamas militants trickled in online, reactions from foreign governments, celebrities, activist groups and the wider public soon followed.
Most prominent political officials around the globe were swift to condemn the attacks.
Rishi Sunak, who was prime minister at the time, wrote on Twitter that he was “shocked by this morning’s attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli citizens” and asserted that Israel has “an absolute right to defend itself”.
Joe Biden, meanwhile, said his administration was prepared “to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of Israel” and added: “The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation. My administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”
French president Emanuel Macron expressed his “full solidarity with the victims, their families and their loved ones” while EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called the attack “terrorism in its most despicable form”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country was and continues to be fending off a Russian invasion, asserted Israel’s “indisputable” right to defend itself.
“Terror is always a crime, not just against one country or specific victims, but against humanity as a whole,” he said on Telegram.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, posted on social media: “Terrifying news reaches us today from Israel.
“We are deeply shocked by the rocket fire from Gaza and the escalating violence. Germany condemns these attacks by Hamas and stands by Israel.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres was “deeply concerned” for the civilian population and urged maximum restraint “in accordance with international humanitarian law at all times”. He then provoked outrage by insisting that the atrocities had not happened in a “vacuum”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a supporter of Hamas, also called on both Israelis and Palestinians to act with restraint, saying during a congress for his ruling AK Party in Ankara that both parties “must refrain from aggressive acts”.
Not everyone even paid lip service to the safety of Israelis. Former leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn refused to condemn Hamas in the days after the attack, saying in a statement that “ending the occupation is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace”.
An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei openly congratulated the Hamas fighters, according to a report from the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA.
“We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem,” it said, quoting Al Khamenei’s special military adviser Yahya Rahim Safavi.
Iran’s state television showed parliament members rising from their seats on the day of the attack, chanting “Death to Israel” and “Palestine is victorious, Israel will be destroyed”.
Demonstrations of both in support and condemnation of Israel quickly began to take place in cities across the globe, contributing to a broader landscape of unrest and protest.
In an early show of support, landmarks around the globe – including 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament and the European Commission headquarters – projected the Israeli flag onto their exteriors following the attacks.
The White House, the Empire State Building, Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate, Bulgaria’s Parliament building in Sofia, and Romania’s Parliament building in Bucharest also projected the flag on their facades in displays of solidarity with Israel.
A large advertising screen in Kyiv, Ukraine also flashed the Israeli flag on the night after the attacks, with President Zelenskyy advocating for a show of unity in the international response to the attacks.
But also in London, a number of fringe pro-Palestine demonstrators took to the streets to celebrate the attacks in the hours after, and others rallied near the Israeli embassy shouting “Israel is a terrorist state” and “Free Palestine” while setting off flares and lighting fireworks.
A synagogue in Porto was vandalised with graffiti days after the Hamas attacks, and in Sydney, Australia, pro-Palestine demonstrators shouted “gas the Jews” outside the city’s Opera House, which had been lit in the colours of the Israeli flag.
While Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israeli civilians was still ongoing, more than 30 Harvard student groups co-signed a statement by the Palestine Solidarity Group that claimed that Israel’s “apartheid regime” was “entirely responsible” for the massacre.
Universities swiftly became hotbeds for antisemitism, with Jewish students reportedly receiving death threats and scores of student societies around the country backing calls for intifada. Jewish-owned establishments were vandalised and, by October 11, reports of antisemitic attacks in the UK had trebled, according to CST.
As a result, two Jewish schools in north London closed for several days and JFS headteacher Dr David Moody allowed students to not wear their identifiable blazers on the way to school.
Newspapers splashed the atrocities across their front pages for days as more information was released. The BBC faced backlash for its coverage, and the Board of Deputies complained to communications regulator Ofcom about the BBC’s failure to label Hamas a terrorist group in its earliest reporting on the attacks.
As the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre approaches, it remains to be seen how the world – its governments, media outlets, international communities, and religious groups – will reflect upon the tragic events and the tumultuous months that followed.
