Citizens of Israel Come together to Observe Two Years Since 7 October Assault by Hamas

This Tuesday, people across Israel will gather in various locations to mark the two-year mark of the 7 October attack, where armed groups under Hamas took the lives of approximately 1,200 individuals and took 251 hostages during an assault on Israel's southern areas.

Informal Commemorations and Rallies

Unofficial commemorations are scheduled in the small agricultural communities of southern Israel where residents were killed or kidnapped, and a major demonstration is planned in the city of Tel Aviv to urge the freeing of the hostages still held from confinement under Hamas in Gaza.

The official national ceremony of honoring is scheduled on 16 October in Israel’s national cemetery on Herzl Mountain subsequent to the Jewish holiday of the Rejoicing of the Torah.

Collective Trauma and Lasting Consequences

The remembrance of the shared distress of the assault 24 months prior – the most lethal one-day assault in the history of Israel – still looms large all over Israel. The images of captives yet to be freed in Gaza are displayed at public transport stations nationwide, and homes that were lit on fire by militants as they raided agricultural villages stand charred and abandoned.

A multitude of those who lived through the attack on the Nova festival participated in a remembrance on the past Sunday with ex-captives and the relatives of those lost.

“This dear one might have celebrated 27 years old now. I relive the moment as if it were an hour ago,” a grieving parent, whose son Idan Dor perished during the event, said beneath a monument showing photographs of those killed.

Negotiation Prospects

The commemoration has been overshadowed expectations that the conflict in Gaza may finally be coming to a close. Negotiators from both sides convened in Egypt on the past Monday where they began indirect talks to resolve the details of the return of each abducted individual held in Gaza and the repatriation of almost two thousand Palestinian prisoners, in addition to the initial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

This round of negotiations, while still distant from a resolution, has generated more enthusiasm than any peace efforts since the last ceasefire fell apart in March's halfway point.

The Israeli leader has said he aims to declare the freeing of captives “over the next few days”, while the ex-leader has issued an ultimatum to the militants with “total obliteration” in case the arrangement is not reached.

Popular Calls

A number of remembrance activities have been repurposed to protests to urge the leadership to conclude negotiations to free those detained and conclude the conflict. At a rally in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, relatives insisted the prime minister agree to the former president's proposal to conclude the conflict in the strip.

Gaza's Reality

In Gaza, the local population are anxiously awaiting to see if an armistice comes to fruition. Regardless of Trump’s demands that the nation halt airstrikes Gaza ahead of a hostage release, strikes on the strip are ongoing. The health authority in Gaza reported no fewer than 19 individuals were killed by Israel during the previous 24-hour period, incorporating two individuals attempting to obtain help.

The upcoming Tuesday will furthermore represent the two-year point of the start of Israel’s military campaign on the Palestinian territory, which has caused material and human destruction to the residents.

More than 67,000 Palestinians have been died and around one hundred seventy thousand have been injured by the nation's military in the territory, as reported by the strip's medical office. At least 460 people have succumbed to hunger in the strip, and the world’s leading authority on hunger emergencies has said a famine is occurring in areas of the territory – a product of what most aid agencies claim is an blockade by Israel on the strip. The nation has denied the claim.

A United Nations investigative body, various civil liberties associations and the global leading organization of genocide scholars have stated Israel has committed genocide in Gaza over the past two years. The Israeli administration has denied the accusation and stated its measures are self-protection.