WATCH: Siren rings out, Western Wall ceremony starts, as Israel comes to a halt for Memorial Day

A minute-long siren is about to ring out across Israel as the clock strikes 8 p.m., bringing the country to a standstill to mark the start of Memorial Day.

The siren will be followed by the lighting of a memorial flame for the fallen at the Western Wall, at the start of the official state commemoration ceremony.

Memorial services for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism will be held across the country throughout the evening.

Tomorrow morning, a two-minute siren will sound at 11 a.m. to mark the start of ceremonies at cemeteries nationwide.

Tomorrow night, another official ceremony will take place at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem between 7 and 8 p.m., marking the end of Memorial Day and the beginning of Independence Day.

Three hundred and nineteen soldiers have been killed during their military service since Israel’s last Memorial Day, the Defense Ministry said, and another 61 disabled veterans died due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.

The numbers brought the total to 25,420 of those who have died during service to the country since 1860 — the year from which Israel, and before it the Jewish community in the region, began counting its fallen soldiers and defenders.

The annual figures include all soldiers, police officers, Shin Bet agents, and civilian security officers who died in the past year, whether in the line of duty or as a result of an accident, illness, or suicide.

The vast majority of the 319 were killed amid the ongoing war, during fighting in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and the West Bank.