Israel came to a standstill on Tuesday as sirens sounded nationwide for a two-minute silence in memory of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust.
At 10:00 a.m. local time, traffic halted and daily activities paused across the country in a symbolic act of remembrance during the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day observance, which is marked according to the Hebrew calendar and is separate from the January 27 International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The commemoration comes amid heightened regional tensions, including a fragile two-week ceasefire between Israel and Iran following a conflict that began on February 28 after a joint U.S.–Israeli airstrike killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces remain engaged in clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, while separate talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials are scheduled to take place later Tuesday in Washington.
Official remembrance events began Monday evening at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, where senior leaders gathered for a state ceremony marking the start of the observance.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a significant blow to Iran in recent fighting and warned of ongoing threats from Tehran and its regional allies.
Netanyahu said Israeli actions had targeted what he described as the “Iranian axis,” referencing operations across Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Yemen. He also argued that strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities helped prevent future dangers comparable to atrocities carried out during the Nazi era.
In a separate statement, Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, said the armed forces would continue to confront emerging threats. “We will not be deterred,” he said. “We will look every threat in the eye and eliminate it in advance.”
Memorial ceremonies are continuing across the country throughout the day, as officials reported that about 111,000 survivors of Nazi persecution currently live in Israel, down from 120,507 recorded last year.
