Israelis mark 7 October anniversary as talks on Gaza peace plan continue

Israelis gathered across the country to mark two years since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, with negotiations continuing in Egypt over the end of the war in Gaza.

The attack saw more than 1,200 people killed and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. It has been a bloody single day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Israel responded by launching a military offensive in Gaza that killed more than 67,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory. Its figures are considered reliable by the United Nations and other international bodies.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that alongside “tremendous pain,” Israel had shown “miraculous resilience.”

“We hit our bloodthirsty enemies hard, but they did not break us,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

He pledged to “achieve all the goals of the war: the return of all abductees, the elimination of the Hamas regime and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”

Recalling the Hamas attack on southern Israel two years ago, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “The horror of that dark day will be forever seared in the memories of us all.”

He also called on all parties to agree to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, calling it a “historic opportunity” to “bring this tragic conflict to a certain degree.”

The Israeli government has delayed official memorials until October 16 – after the end of the Jewish holiday season – but events across the country still took place on Tuesday.

A memorial service was held for the families of Israelis killed in a Hamas attack in Tel Aviv. Organized by the families themselves, it was broadcast on Israeli television channels.

Hours ago, a minute of silence was observed across the country.

Meanwhile, Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams convened in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh for a second day of indirect talks to discuss the terms of the proposal.

A senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC that an evening round of indirect talks began at 19:00 Cairo time (17:00 GMT).

The official said that the morning session ended without tangible results, amid disagreements over the proposed Israeli withdrawal maps from Gaza and more guarantees that Hamas wants to ensure that Israel does not resume fighting after the first phase of the deal.

He added that the talks were “difficult and were not yet producing any real breakthrough,” but noted that the mediators were working hard to narrow the gaps between the two sides.

Earlier, a Palestinian official said that the negotiations focus on five main issues: a permanent ceasefire; Exchange of hostages still protesting by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza; Withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; Arrangements for the delivery of humanitarian aid; and post-war governance of the territory.

A source familiar with the BBC talks said that President Trump’s negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were expected to leave the United States this evening and arrive in Egypt on Wednesday.

“We have a good chance of making a deal, and it will be a permanent deal,” the president told reporters at the White House on Monday.

At the Tel Aviv hostage square earlier, 29-year-old Hager – whose brother survived the attack on the Nova Music Festival, where 378 people were killed and dozens taken hostage by Hamas militants – told the BBC: “No place feels like home anymore and all the hostages don’t even feel safe.”

“When we see everyone home again, we can breathe again. Then we can start recovering,” she added.

Outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, people gathered to show their support for the families of the hostages. Israel says 48 remain in captivity in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Protester Atalia Regev told the BBC: “We need to make every compromise required for the hostages to go home. But we really want assurances that we will be safe.”

Polls now consistently show that about 70% of Israelis want the war to end in exchange for the release of the hostages.

At the Nova Festival site, mourners gathered to pay their respects.

From there, the boom of Israeli air strikes and artillery could be heard a few kilometers away in Gaza, where witnesses said intense Israeli bombardment continued.

In Gaza City, Air and Airtillery strikes were reported in the early hours of Tuesday in the western Al-Tal Al-Hawa neighborhoods, the Rimal and NASR neighborhoods and in the eastern neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan, as well as the Shati refugee camp to the northwest.

“When evening comes, fear comes,” said Iman al-Wahidi, a Gaza City resident whose 17-year-old son was killed by an Israeli air strike last year.

“My three children and I are afraid of air strikes. All night long we sleep together, holding each other, especially my youngest child who lays his head down all night.”

“Every second we look at the news to see what happened. I fear that the ceasefire will not be completed and that the war will return to us.”

Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it had received the bodies of six people by the afternoon, including three killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Sabra neighborhood.

Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis said two more people had been brought there. Medics said one of them was killed by Israeli forces while calling for help to the south.

UNICEF spokesman James Elder described how infected mothers and babies were “lining the corridor floors” from Nasser, and that premature babies had to share a single bed or oxygen source.

“In one of the children’s rooms, there were three children and three mothers on one bed, one source of oxygen, and the mothers would circulate the oxygen for 20 minutes for each child,” he told Reuters news agency. “This is the level of mothers I’ve got now.”

The Gaza Ministry of Health said that 25 of the territory’s 38 hospitals were now out of service, and that the remaining 13 were only partially functioning.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said a rocket was fired from northern Gaza into Israel on Tuesday morning, setting off sirens at Netiv Haasara. He added that the projectile fell in the area and that no injuries or damage were reported.

International journalists have been prevented by Israel from independently entering the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, making verified claims from both sides difficult.