Today, Tuesday, October 7, 2025, marks two years since the Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,139 people and saw about 200 people taken captive.
Since then, Israeli forces have killed at least 67,160 Palestinians and wounded 169,679 in Gaza, in a war that has been described as genocidal by a United Nations inquiry, leading genocide scholars and leading human rights groups, including Israeli nonprofits.
At least 460 people have died from starvation in Gaza, and the world’s leading authority on food crises has said a famine is unfolding in parts of the strip – a product of what most aid agencies say is an Israeli blockade on Gaza. Israel has denied the claim.
Israelis will gather across the country today to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October attack.
Unofficial commemorations will be held in the small kibbutzim of southern Israel whose members were killed or kidnapped, and a large rally will be held in Tel Aviv to call for the release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
The official national ceremony of remembrance will be held on 16 October in Israel’s national cemetery on Mount Herzl after the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
The memory of the collective trauma of the attack two years ago, the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history, still looms large across the country.
The faces of hostages still held in Gaza are plastered on bus stops around the country, and homes that were lit on fire by militants as they marauded through kibbutzim stand charred and abandoned.
Meanwhile, deadly Israeli attacks have continued across Gaza as the war reaches its two-year mark.
Israel is demolishing Gaza City’s high-rise towers, flattening entire blocks that once housed thousands of people.
The Palestinian Civil Defence said at least 50 multistorey buildings have been destroyed in recent weeks as Israeli forces press their assault on the city, all amid a wave of forced displacements.
Hopes Of Ceasefire Rekindles
The anniversary has been overshadowed by hopes that the war in Gaza may finally be coming to a close.
Negotiators from Hamas and Israel gathered in Egypt on Monday where they began indirect talks to iron out the details of the release of all hostages held in Gaza and the return of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, as well as the initial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
This round of negotiations, while still far from a deal, has generated more enthusiasm than any peace efforts since the last ceasefire broke down in mid-March.
The first day of resumed indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt ended on a positive note,
According to Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News, the day-one talks covered the proposed exchange of prisoners and captives, a ceasefire, and humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
Negotiators are set to return for more discussions today.
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