Beverly Hills community honors victims of Oct. 7 attack with somber remembrance ceremony

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Local community members held a somber remembrance ceremony Monday in Beverly Hills in honor of the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Beverly Hills community leaders, elected officials, religious leaders and residents gathered at the city's Israel Flag installation for a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the attack.

"Now it's more important than ever that we unite, and serve as a voice against hate and discrimination and anti semitism," said Sharona Nazarian, Beverly Hills Vice Mayor.

The Israel Flag installation, located at the Beverly Gardens Park in Beverly Hills, features 1,400 Israeli flags from more than 30 countries. Each flag represents a victim of the Oct. 7 attacks.

"People should be remembering, I mean it wasn't just Jews, it wasn't just Israelis. It was people visiting, there was people of so many different countries," said Debbie Paperman. "If you look over the flags you'll see they're not all Israelis and even the people that are being held still are not all Israelis, are not all Jews."

A year ago today, dozens of Hamas militants crossed into Israel and opened fire at the Nova Music Festival, killing young Israelis and taking others hostage.

Israeli communities around the festival grounds also came under attack, with gunmen killing hundreds more and abducting men, women, children, and elderly. 250 people were taken hostage. Around 100 people still remain in captivity.

"We are fighting for humanity and fighting that radical Islam is not going to take over," said Israel Bachar, Consul General of Israel in Los angeles.

As the war in the middle east continues, those in attendance at the ceremony said they hope the world never forgets the atrocities of Oct. 7.

"What happened on October 7th was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust," said Paperman. "I feel like people have forgotten and I think people need to remember. Jews, non Jews, this isn't about politics, right or left, this is about humanity."

The Israel Flag installation will be on display at the Beverly Gardens until Oct. 14.