Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a statewide Day of Observance on Monday to commemorate the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. Exactly one year ago, about 1,200 Israelis were killed during the Nova music festival attack and more than 250 were taken hostage by Hamas.
The governor stated, “Texas will always stand with the State of Israel and the Israeli people as they continue to defend their freedoms in the face of pure evil.”
Alongside ordering all Texas and U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff, the governor had asked media outlets to publish the names of the seven American hostages still held by Hamas at noon. During a “Remembering October 7th” ceremony at the Dell Jewish Community Campus in Austin, Abbott also named them one by one:
Edan Alexander
Itay Chen
Sagui Dekel-Chen
Gadi Haggai
Judith Weinstein Haggai
Omer Neutra
Keith Siegel
According to the Associated Press, around 100 hostages remain missing and a third among them are believed to be dead.
In his proclamation issued last week, the governor detailed his support for Israel through increasing funding to protect Jewish communities, banning state agencies from doing business with anti-Israel companies, and raising awareness about the Oct. 7 tragedy in state education.
“The State of Israel is right and, moreover, righteous in pursuing the elimination of Hamas, and Texas will do everything in its power to support the Jewish people here and in defense of their homeland,” stated Abbott’s proclamation.
