New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre on Wednesday with a statement in which he claimed to mourn the Israelis murdered and abducted by Hamas, while leveling harsh accusations against Israel over its conduct in Gaza.
“This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7," Mamdani wrote on X.
“On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. We grieve alongside our many friends and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss."
Mamdani then turned to the war in Gaza, arguing that the suffering “did not begin nor end that day" and accusing the Israeli government of carrying out an “ongoing genocide."
He claimed that Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinian Arabs, including more than 21,000 children, and that more than 1,400 Palestinian Arabs have been killed since what he termed the “so-called ceasefire."
Mamdani further accused Israel of bombing ambulances outside hospitals, targeting residential buildings and journalists with drone strikes, and preventing shipments of food aid from entering Gaza.
“Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them - all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes," he wrote.
The mayor also invoked accusations of “occupation" and “apartheid" and criticized the US government for continuing to provide Israel with weapons.
“Three years later, we must refuse to accept a world in which occupation and apartheid continue, where war crimes are met with impunity, and our federal government continues its complicity with every arms shipment," Mamdani stated.
He concluded by calling for a future in which “every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity."
“To honor the dead, we must fight for a world in which every person can live with freedom, safety, and dignity," he wrote.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon blasted Mamdani's statement and accused him of attempting to hijack October 7: “'Mamdani-ism' - an attempt to hijack the anniversary of October 7 and turn it into yet another propaganda attack against Israel. It is like turning September 11 into a day of mourning for al-Qaeda terrorists. We will not let this happen. We will remember those who were murdered, and we will never forget who was behind this massacre."