Israel recently observed the second anniversary of the Hamas attack that ignited its longest ongoing war, a day marked by subdued reflection rather than public ceremony. While a glimmer of hope for peace talks exists, the grim reality includes 48 Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza and a weary military that continues to contribute to the staggering death toll among Palestinians and widespread destruction across the Gaza Strip.
The solemn occasion largely coincided with Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival and a national holiday, which saw most Israeli businesses closed. Official commemorations for the traumatic events of October 7th were consequently postponed until after the High Holiday season, scheduled for October 16th.
However, the gravity of the two-year milestone was undeniable. Quiet, informal gatherings took place in several Israeli kibbutzim near Gaza that bore the brunt of the Hamas-led massacres on October 7, 2023, drawing participants from across the nation.
In Rehovot, a town south of Tel Aviv, a group of approximately 20 runners, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with pleas for the hostages’ return, traversed a well-known route early in the morning. Their journey honored Nimrod Cohen, a soldier still held in captivity, with passing cars offering supportive honks in solidarity.
Meanwhile, in Kfar Azza, a small kibbutz located less than two miles from Gaza, where at least 62 residents were killed and 19 abducted, dozens gathered for a memorial. It began with a moment of silence at 6:29 a.m., precisely when Hamas initiated its barrage of thousands of rockets, overwhelming Israel’s air-defense system on that fateful Saturday morning.
This aerial assault provided cover for the primary Hamas offensive: an invasion by thousands of militants who breached the border fence, infiltrated towns and numerous agricultural communities, massacred residents in their homes, gunned down young people at a music festival, and overran Israeli military bases.
In total, Hamas’s attacks claimed the lives of approximately 1,200 people, predominantly civilians, and resulted in the capture of around 250 more. This day stands as the bloodiest in Israel’s history and the deadliest for Jews worldwide since the Holocaust.
In response, a shocked Israel launched a devastating military campaign that, according to the Gaza health ministry, has resulted in over 67,000 Palestinian deaths, including both civilians and combatants. Tens of thousands more have been wounded, and vast areas of the territory’s infrastructure have been leveled, reducing much of the landscape to rubble and sand.
The ongoing conflict has subjected Palestinians in Gaza to a relentless cycle of displacement, forcing them to flee Israeli attacks from one supposed safe haven to another. Compounding the crisis, severe food shortages and significant obstacles to delivering humanitarian aid led an international panel of hunger experts to declare in August that parts of the enclave were experiencing famine.
Within Israel, the protracted war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s perceived failure to secure the release of the remaining hostages—despite broad public support for such a move—have exacerbated deep societal divisions that predated October 7th. Many Israelis accuse him of prolonging the war, even after decapitating Hamas’s leadership, to preserve his right-wing coalition and cling to power.
The enduring conflict has compelled reservists to undertake multiple, lengthy tours of duty, straining the national economy and interrupting soldiers’ lives. It has also inflamed long-standing resentment towards ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are largely exempt from military service.
Israel’s conduct of the war, characterized by immense casualties and harrowing images of children and other civilians killed and maimed in Gaza, combined with rhetoric from hardline allies of Mr. Netanyahu about depopulating and annexing the territory, has led to widespread accusations of genocide. These allegations have been made by various bodies, including a United Nations commission and Amnesty International, though Israel vehemently denies them.
Israel maintains that its military operates with strict adherence to protecting Palestinian civilians, including issuing warnings before attacks, and blames Hamas for endangering non-combatants by operating from within hospitals and schools.
Globally, outrage over the Gaza war has tragically fueled a surge in antisemitism and violence targeting Jews. Notable incidents include the killing of an elderly man at an Israeli hostage support march in Boulder, Colorado; the deaths of two Israeli Embassy workers in Washington, D.C., outside a Jewish museum; and the murders of two worshipers at a synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
The ongoing hostilities have also significantly deepened Israel’s international isolation. This was starkly evident in late September, when ten countries, including traditional allies such as Britain, Canada, France, and Australia, recognized Palestinian statehood for the first time.
Despite this, Palestinian political aspirations appear more distant than ever by some measures. The October 7th attacks shifted Israeli public sentiment to the right, causing many liberals who once advocated for peace to feel betrayed and now oppose a Palestinian state on Israel’s border.
As of Tuesday, the war showed no signs of abating along the Israel-Gaza border. In Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes were heard overhead in the early morning hours, followed by gunfire and artillery blasts in the eastern part of town as the sun rose.
Later that morning, rocket sirens blared in Netiv HaAsara, an Israeli community on Gaza’s northern border, with the military confirming a projectile had landed in the area.
In Kfar Azza, the community’s moment of silence at 6:29 a.m. was anything but quiet, punctuated by the drone of aircraft, the thrum of helicopters, and frequent explosions tearing through the air.
Nitzan Kaner, 37, who endured 30 hours trapped during the militant attack, expressed the enduring trauma. “Some say what happened is receding into the distance, but for me, it’s stronger than ever,” she remarked. Her sleepless night was filled with thoughts of their ordeal, a stark reminder that for many, the past remains intensely present.