Thousands of people converged on southern Israel on Tuesday 7 October to mourn the dead as the nation marked two years since the attack of two years ago that plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas hold indirect talks in Egypt. The negotiations between the two sides being held in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh have been "positive" so far, two sources close to the Palestinian militants' negotiating team told AFP, with discussions set to resume later on Tuesday. Mediators were shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations under tight security. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters in Cairo, negotiations were underway for a "first phase" of the agreement, adding the discussions were focused on creating "the climate on the ground to complete the step of releasing the hostages". Trump has urged negotiators to "move fast" to end the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes continued on Monday. Trump told Newsmax TV that "I think we're very, very close to having a deal... I think there's a lot of goodwill being shown now. It's pretty amazing actually".
The main memorial is being organised by the bereaved families, separate from a ceremony the government will hold on the anniversary next week according to the Hebrew calendar. The split reflects deep divisions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, which many blame for the failure to secure a ceasefire that would free the remaining hostages held by the militants.
In the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of people and razed entire towns and cities, those who can are fleeing another Israeli invasion of Gaza City while others are sheltering in place. According to AP, many are unable to make the arduous and costly journey south.
Two years ago to the day, at the close of the Jewish festival of Sukkot, Hamas-led militants launched a massive assault on Israel, making it the deadliest day in the country's history. Palestinian fighters breached the Gaza-Israel border, storming southern Israeli communities and a desert music festival with gunfire, rockets and grenades. The attack killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, of whom 47 remain captive, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
With global pressure mounting to end the war in Gaza, US President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point plan calling for a ceasefire, a release of all the hostages, Hamas's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Dozens of relatives and friends of those killed at the Nova music festival lit candles and held a minute's silence at the site of the attack in southern Israel, where militants killed more than 370 people and seized dozens of hostages. Orit Baron, whose daughter Yuval was killed at the festival with her fiance Moshe Shuva, told AFP the day was a "black" date for her family.
Another ceremony was due in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, where weekly rallies have kept up calls for the captives' release. A state-organised commemoration is planned for October 16 after the ongoing Sukkot holidays.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza by air, land and sea has killed at least 67,160 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible. Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that over half of the dead are women and children. Entire neighbourhoods have been flattened, with homes, hospitals, schools and water networks in ruins. Hundreds of thousands of homeless Gazans now shelter in overcrowded camps and open areas with little access to food, water or sanitation.
After two years of war, 72 percent of the Israeli public said they were dissatisfied with the government's handling of the war, according to a recent survey by the Institute for National Security Studies. Israel has expanded its military reach over the course of the war, striking targets in five countries in the region, including Iran, and killing several senior Hamas figures and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
A UN probe last month accused Israel of genocide in Gaza while rights groups have accused Hamas of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the October 7 attack. Both sides reject the allegations.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it detected a projectile fired from Gaza, with no injuries reported. Two truces earlier in the war enabled the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, though they did not envisage a more permanent ceasefire or the disarmament of Hamas. Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir has warned that if these negotiations fail, the military will "return to fighting" in Gaza.
