United States President Joe Biden on Monday paid tribute to victims of Hamas’s terror onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza, joining several world leaders who marked the solemn first anniversary with calls to release the hostages still in captivity in Gaza and shows of support for Israel and their respective Jewish communities.

In a statement, Biden pledged to continue supporting Israel’s defense, noting “one year of mourning” since the massacre of nearly 1,200 people in southern Israel, including 46 Americans.

“One year since Hamas committed horrific acts of sexual violence. One year since more than 250 innocents were taken hostage, including 12 Americans,” said Biden.

The president said he and US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, “remain fully committed to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist.”

“I believe that history will also remember October 7 as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day,” said Biden, noting his administration’s effort to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the supply of humanitarian aid there.

He also called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel last week launched ground operations against Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah to halt its near-daily attacks on northern Israel that started October 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas.

“Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people,” said Biden.

Harris, who has been more critical of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, condemned Hamas’s “brutal and sickening” violence on October 7, noting it had “rekindled a deep fear among the Jewish people not just in Israel, but in the United States and around the world.”

In a “60 Minutes” interview set to air later Monday, Harris defended security aid to Israel, but said the administration would continue pressuring Jerusalem for a ceasefire, according to a preview released by CBS.

Harris’s Republican rival, former US president Donald Trump, is due to mark the anniversary at a “Remembrance Event” in Miami organized by Jewish community leaders.

With Israel and France sparring over a possible arms embargo by Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with victims in social media posts in French, English and Arabic.

“The pain remains, as vivid as it was a year ago. The pain of the Israeli people. Ours. The pain of wounded humanity,” Macron said on X. “We do not forget the victims, the hostages, or the families with broken hearts from absence or waiting.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, in Israel for the anniversary, attended a memorial service at the site of the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, where over 350 people were killed on October 7.

Speaking to the families of victims, Barrot pledged France’s support in the face of “the worst antisemitic massacre in our history since the Holocaust.”

“The joyful dawn of what should have been a day of celebration was suddenly torn apart by unspeakable horror,” he said of the attack, which occured on the Jewish holiday of Simhat Torah. “France mourns alongside Israel our 48 compatriots victims of barbarism.”

Barrot, who is expected to speak with his counterpart Israel Katz later Monday, said Macron will also meet in Paris on Monday with relatives of Hamas hostages, a number of whom have French citizenship.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain “will not falter in our pursuit of peace,” paying tribute to the victims of the shock assault.

“We stand together to remember the lives so cruelly taken,” he said. Britain “must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country” following a surge in antisemitic incidents across the UK amid the war in Gaza, he added.

Starmer also repeated his calls for “the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid” into the Strip and urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and in Lebanon, while promising to continue pushing for the release of hostages.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Hamas terrorists “must be fought,” but also reiterated Berlin’s calls for a ceasefire.

“We feel with you the horror, the pain, the uncertainty and the sadness. We stand by your side,” he said.

Drawing attention to the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Scholz noted that “people need hope and perspectives if they are to renounce terror.”

“That’s why the federal government is calling for a ceasefire, for the hostages to be freed, and for a political process – even if that seems more distant today than ever,” he said.

It is believed 97 hostages abducted on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 hostages.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far. The toll, which cannot be verified, does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August, and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. The IDF maintains that it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at a ceremony in central Rome’s Great Synagogue, warned of antisemitism as she honored the victims of the “inhumane aggression perpetrated a year ago by Hamas.”

“Remembering and strongly condemning what happened a year ago is not a mere ritual, but the prerequisite for any political action to restore peace in the Middle East,” she said, speaking days after the city was the scene of violent clashes between police and anti-Israel protesters.

“The reticence that is increasingly encountered in [condemning Hamas] betrays a latent and rampant antisemitism that must concern everyone,” she added.

Meloni reiterated “Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself… in accordance with international humanitarian law,” and said Italy would use its rotating presidency of the G7 to push for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

Italy “cannot remain insensitive to the enormous toll of innocent civilian victims in Gaza,” she said.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement Monday that the day carried “terrible pain” and his government “unequivocally” condemned Hamas’s attack.

He said that since the attack, Jewish Australians have “felt the cold shadows of antisemitism reaching into the present day — and as a nation we say never again.”

“We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith,” Albanese said.

He added that “every innocent life matters” and the number of civilians killed in the conflict was “a devastating tragedy.”

“Today we reflect on the truth of our shared humanity, of the hope that peace is possible, and the belief that it belongs to all people,” Albanese said.

In Japan, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya “unequivocally condemned” Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, but said Tokyo was “gravely concerned” by the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip one year on.

He said Japan urges “the immediate release of all hostages still being held captive” and decried the “large number of civilians” killed and the insecurity facing both Israelis and Palestinians.

“Japan continues to urge all the parties including Israel, to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, and strongly urges them to steadily work toward realisation of a ceasefire,” said Hiwaya.

“Japan is seriously concerned about the rising tensions beyond Israel and the Gaza Strip throughout the Middle East region, including the West Bank, Lebanon, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and Iran,” he added.