Israel marks October 7 anniversary as talks held to end Gaza war

Israel marks the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack on Tuesday, as Hamas and Israeli negotiators hold indirect talks to end the two-year war in Gaza under a US proposed peace plan.

Two years ago, to the day, at the close of the Jewish festival of Sukkot, Hamas-led militants launched a surprise 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 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also abducted 251 hostages into Gaza, of whom 47 remain captive, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

Memorial events were scheduled in Israel on Tuesday to mark the anniversary.

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 Palestinian militants killed more than 370 people and seized dozens of hostages.

Many Israelis went to the Nova festival site on Monday.

“It was a very difficult and enormous incident that happened here,” Elad Gancz, a teacher, told AFP as he mourned the dead.

“But we want to live — and despite everything, continue with our lives, remembering those who were here and, unfortunately, are no longer with us.”

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.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza by air, land and sea continues unabated, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and vast destruction.

The Gaza health ministry says at least 67,160 people have been killed, 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.

“We have lost everything in this war, our homes, family members, friends, neighbours,” said Hanan Mohammed, 36, who is displaced from her home in Jabalia.

“I can’t wait for a ceasefire to be announced and for this endless bloodshed and death to stop… there is nothing left but destruction.”

After two years of conflict, 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.

Herculean task

Israel has expanded its military reach over the course of the war, striking targets in five regional capitals, including Iran, and killing several senior Hamas figures and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel and Hamas now face mounting international pressure to end the war, with a UN probe last month accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and rights groups accusing Hamas of war crimes in the October 7 attack. Both sides reject the allegations.

Last week, US President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point plan calling for an immediate ceasefire once Hamas releases all hostages, the group’s disarmament, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Indirect talks began Monday in Egypt’s resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with mediators shuttling between delegations under tight security.

Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian state intelligence, said the discussions were focussed on “preparing ground conditions” for a hostage-prisoner exchange under Trump’s plan.

A Palestinian source close to Hamas negotiators said the talks, which opened on the eve of the October 7 anniversary, may last for several days.

Trump has urged negotiators to “move fast” to end the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes continued on Monday.

The US president 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”.

Although both sides have welcomed Trump’s proposal, reaching an agreement on its details is expected to be a Herculean task.

The war has previously seen two ceasefires that enabled the release of dozens of hostages.

However, Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir has warned that if these negotiations fail, the military will “return to fighting” in Gaza.