Re’im, southern Israel — The folks of Israel had been marking a grim milestone on Tuesday, mourning their useless two years after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist assault. Some 1,200 folks had been killed that day, most of them civilians, and 251 others taken hostage. Israeli officers imagine 48 individuals are nonetheless being held captive in Gaza, solely 20 of them believed to be alive.
Their households are determined for a deal to finish the struggle and convey their family members dwelling.
Oblique negotiations between Hamas and Israel had been getting into a second day in Egypt, spurred by President Trump’s requires each side to comply with a ceasefire primarily based on his just lately introduced 20-point peace proposal.
Stress has been mounting on Israel and Hamas not solely from the White Home however from world wide, with a lot of Israel’s Arab neighbors pushing Hamas to just accept a peace settlement and backing Mr. Trump’s proposal.
Folks stroll previous portraits of Israelis held hostage within the Gaza Strip since 2023, throughout a rally in Tel Aviv marking two years for the reason that Hamas terrorist assault, Oct. 7, 2025.
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty
In a message marking what he referred to as “the most brutal terrorist attack in Israel’s history,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed the U.S. authorities’s “unwavering support for Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, and to ensure the safety of its people.”
Rubio stated the Trump administration was “leading the effort to secure the release of all hostages, end Hamas’s rule in Gaza, and advance a durable peace that ensures not only Israel’s security, but generational peace and prosperity for the region.”
“I have said it time and again, and I am repeating it today with even greater urgency: Release the hostages, unconditionally and immediately,” United Nations Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres stated in a press release. “Put an end to the hostilities in Gaza, Israel and the region now. Stop making civilians pay with their lives and their futures.”
The principle Oct. 7 memorial occasion, in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Sq., was organized by the bereaved households — not the federal government, reflecting deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s management for the reason that assault.
Many Israelis blame him for failing to carry all of the hostages dwelling.
“We can’t move on, we can’t,” stated Eden Ganam, whose cousin, Yosef Ohana, continues to be in captivity in Gaza. “This is not the same life that we had before October 7. “We thought it would be maybe a month, a couple of days, but two years?”
The Hamas assault sparked Israel’s ongoing, devastating struggle within the Gaza Strip. Greater than 67,000 folks have been killed, in accordance with the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run Ministry of Well being. Big swaths of the coastal enclave, dwelling to greater than 2 million folks, have been destroyed.
On Monday, the group of Nir Oz — the place greater than 400 residents had been both killed or kidnapped — got here collectively in tune and prayer.
Irit Lahav was hiding along with her daughter of their secure room on that day two years in the past. “We were holding hands, and we thought, ‘That’s it. These are our last minutes,’” she stated. “We just said loving words to each other. Goodbye words.”
One other memorial was arrange Tuesday on the website of the Nova music competition, near the Gaza border within the southern Israeli desert. It was overrun by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 two years in the past, and virtually 380 folks had been killed.
Guests on the Nova music competition memorial website are seen two years after the Hamas terror assault, close to Kibbutz Re’im, in southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2025.
Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg/Getty
Baron was amongst dozens of pals and family members of these killed, and others simply wishing to pay their respects. Many lit candles and stood for one minute in silence, remembering these misplaced to terrorism.
As they did, the sounds of the struggle in Gaza, only a few miles away, continued reverberating by way of the air.
Agnes Reau and
Tucker Reals
contributed to this report.
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