Israel marks 2 years of pain since Hamas’ attack, as the Gaza war echoes across solemn memorial events

Re’im, southern Israel — The people of Israel were marking a grim milestone on Tuesday, mourning their dead two years after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attack. Some 1,200 people were killed that day, most of them civilians, and 251 others taken hostage. Israeli officials believe 48 people are still being held captive in Gaza, only 20 of them believed to be alive.

Their families are desperate for a deal to end the war and bring their loved ones home.

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel were entering a second day in Egypt, spurred by President Trump’s calls for both sides to agree to a ceasefire based on his recently announced 20-point peace proposal.

Pressure has been mounting on Israel and Hamas not only from the White House but from around the world, with many of Israel’s Arab neighbors pushing Hamas to accept a peace agreement and backing Mr. Trump’s proposal.

In a message marking what he called “the most brutal terrorist attack in Israel’s history,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed the U.S. government’s “unwavering support for Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, and to ensure the safety of its people.”

Rubio said 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-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “Put an end to the hostilities in Gaza, Israel and the region now. Stop making civilians pay with their lives and their futures.”

The main Oct. 7 memorial event, in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, was organized by the bereaved families — not the government, reflecting deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership since the attack.

Many Israelis blame him for failing to bring all the hostages home.

The Hamas attack sparked Israel’s ongoing, devastating war in the Gaza Strip. More than 67,000 people have been killed, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Huge swaths of the coastal enclave, home to more than 2 million people, have been destroyed.

Another memorial was set up at the site of the Nova music festival, close to the Gaza border in the southern Israeli desert. It was overrun by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 two years ago, and almost 380 people were killed.

Orit Baron, whose daughter Yuval was among the festival goers killed that day, along with her fiance Moshe Shuva, told the French news agency AFP that she came to the site “to be with her, because this is the last time that she was alive.”

Baron was among dozens of friends and relatives of those killed, and others just wishing to pay their respects. Many lit candles and stood for one minute in silence, remembering those lost to terrorism.

As they did, the sounds of the war in Gaza, just a few miles away, continued reverberating through the air.

Agnes Reau and Tucker Reals contributed to this report.