Two years after the Hamas-led attack ignited its longest war, Israel observed a somber anniversary this Tuesday. The nation holds onto fragile hopes for peace, yet many hostages remain captive, and the relentless military campaign continues to exact a devastating toll on Palestinian lives and the landscape of Gaza.
The day coincided with Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival, a national holiday that saw most businesses closed across the country. Official commemorations for the traumatic first day of the war have been postponed until October 16th, following the conclusion of the High Holiday season.
Despite the official delay, the significance of this two-year mark was profoundly felt.
Quiet gatherings were held in kibbutzim near Gaza, communities that bore the brunt of the October 7, 2023 massacres. Across Israel, informal events also drew people together in remembrance.
In Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, a group of about 20 runners, sporting t-shirts demanding the return of hostages, embarked on a morning run. Their route circled the hometown of Nimrod Cohen, a soldier still held captive, and passing drivers offered supportive honks.
Mourners gather at a memorial service in Kfar Aza, southern Israel, on Tuesday, marking two years since the events of October 7, 2023. Credit: David Guttenfelder/The New York Times
Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square saw hundreds gather in silent contemplation. They reflected amidst art installations and memorials honoring those still held captive and citizens who lost their lives on October 7 or during their imprisonment. Currently, Israel estimates that approximately 20 living hostages remain in Gaza, alongside the remains of 28 others who perished there.
Ilana Yahav, a 69-year-old therapist, remarked on the profound and widespread trauma of October 7, stating that the wounds are so deep it’s impossible to provide care for everyone affected.
She emphasized, ‘Whether you were there, had family involved, or merely witnessed it through videos — the need for healing will span many years.’
Tzlil Sasson, 38, traveled from Lehavim, east of Gaza, with her husband and their three young children.
For them, bringing their children to remember and pray was crucial. ‘Maybe, in a couple of days, the hostages will be free — we hope,’ she expressed.
In Kfar Aza, a small kibbutz located less than two miles from Gaza, which lost at least 62 residents and saw 19 others taken hostage, dozens gathered for a memorial. It commenced with a moment of silence at 6:29 a.m., precisely when Hamas initiated its rocket barrage, overwhelming Israel’s air-defense systems.
This aerial assault provided cover for Hamas’s primary offensive: an invasion involving thousands of assailants who breached the Gaza fence, swarming into border towns and small agricultural communities. They murdered residents in their homes, massacred young people at a music festival, and overran Israeli military bases.
In total, Hamas killed approximately 1,200 people, predominantly civilians, and abducted around 250 individuals to Gaza. This day stands as the most devastating in Israel’s history and the deadliest for Jewish people globally since the Holocaust.
In response, a stunned Israel launched a severe military operation. Over the past two years, this response has resulted in more than 67,000 Palestinian deaths, encompassing both civilians and combatants, as reported by the Gaza health ministry.
Additionally, tens of thousands more have been wounded, thousands of buildings razed, and vast swathes of Gaza’s infrastructure and landscape reduced to rubble, shrapnel, and sand.
The conflict has trapped Palestinians in Gaza in a brutal cycle of displacement, forcing them to repeatedly seek refuge from Israeli attacks in areas designated as safe zones, only to be forced to flee once more. In August, an international panel of hunger experts announced that parts of the enclave were experiencing famine due to severe food shortages and hurdles in delivering and distributing humanitarian aid.
Residents of Gaza receive food at a charity kitchen in the al-Mawasi area last month. Credit: Saher Alghorra for The New York Times
Within Israel, the protracted war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inability to secure the release of the remaining hostages have deeply fractured society, intensifying pre-existing divisions that were evident before the October 7 attack.
Many Israelis accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the conflict and forgoing cease-fire opportunities, even after Hamas’s leadership was significantly weakened. They believe his motives are rooted in maintaining his right-wing coalition and preserving his power.
This prolonged conflict has necessitated multiple, extended tours of duty for reservists, straining the economy and disrupting their personal lives. It has also reignited long-standing grievances against ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are typically exempt from military service.
Israel’s wartime conduct, characterized by a high casualty count, harrowing images of injured and deceased children in Gaza, and statements from Netanyahu’s far-right allies advocating for depopulation and annexation of the territory, has led to widespread accusations of genocide. These allegations have been raised by entities such as a United Nations commission and Amnesty International.
Israel refutes these claims, asserting that its military actively strives to protect Palestinian civilians, often issuing warnings before strikes. It further contends that Hamas fighters deliberately endanger civilians by operating from within densely populated areas, including hospitals and schools.
Globally, outrage stemming from the war has contributed to a surge in antisemitism and violence targeting Jewish communities. Notable incidents include the fatal attack on an elderly woman at a hostage support march in Boulder, Colorado; the killings of two Israeli Embassy staff outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.; and the deaths of two worshippers at a Manchester, England synagogue on Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar.
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged decisive action against antisemitism and criticized students for planning protests ‘on the anniversary of the atrocities’ of October 7.
Writing in The Times of London, he stated, ‘This is not who we are as a country. It’s un-British to have so little respect for others.’
The extended duration of the war has also severely increased Israel’s international isolation. This was starkly evident in late September when ten nations, including longstanding allies such as Britain, Canada, France, and Australia, formally recognized Palestinian statehood for the first time.
Khan Younis in southern Gaza, pictured this month. The conflict has forced Palestinians into a relentless cycle of seeking refuge in supposed safe zones, only to be displaced repeatedly. Credit: Saher Alghorra for The New York Times
Paradoxically, despite these international recognitions, Palestinian political aspirations seem more distant than ever.
The October 7 attacks have undeniably shifted Israel’s political landscape further to the right. Many liberals, once proponents of the Israeli peace movement, now express a profound sense of betrayal and oppose the idea of a Palestinian state on Israel’s border.
On Tuesday, the war showed little sign of abating on either side of the Israel-Gaza border.
Even with Hamas’s diminished strength and depleted arsenal, rocket sirens blared after 7 a.m. in Netiv HaAsara, an Israeli community on Gaza’s northern border. The Israeli military confirmed that a projectile had landed in the vicinity.
Meanwhile, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Israeli warplanes were audible overhead in the early hours, at 1 a.m. and again after 5:30 a.m. With the sunrise came the sound of gunfire from the eastern part of town, interspersed with sporadic artillery blasts.
Ahmed al-Haddad, 51, a Gaza resident whose family had been displaced five times, reflected that their current suffering surpassed his grandparents’ accounts of the Nakba, the ‘catastrophe’ of Palestinian displacement during Israel’s war for independence.
He described the ongoing conflict as ‘the harshest, the most merciless,’ adding, ‘It feels like history repeating itself, only harder.’
Back in Kfar Aza, Israel, the 6:29 a.m. moment of silence was disrupted by the constant whine of drones, the roar of helicopters overhead, and frequent explosions echoing through the air.
Photographs of October 7 victims are displayed in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz situated less than two miles from Gaza, where at least 62 residents were killed and 19 were taken hostage. Credit: David Guttenfelder/The New York Times
Zion Regev, a municipal leader, recited an adapted version of the traditional Jewish prayer of mourning. His voice faltered as he mentioned ‘our Gali and Ziv,’ two brothers from Kfar Aza who remain captive in Gaza and have not yet returned home.
Nitzan Kaner, 37, who endured being trapped for approximately 30 hours during the militant attack, shared, ‘Some say what happened is receding into the distance, but for me, it’s stronger than ever.’
She recounted a sleepless night on Tuesday morning:
‘I couldn’t stop thinking about what we went through,’ she said.
Nearby, hundreds of Israelis visited the Nova music festival site, where over 300 lives were lost. Rows of signs bearing the victims’ faces stood arranged, resembling dancers at a solemn rave.
Anat Magnezi held a poster featuring a photograph of her son, Amit, 22, who was killed, obscuring her own face.
She expressed a heartfelt wish: ‘I wish that all the world would see this and know what happened to us and that it is real. But all the world is against us now.’
Roman Fourmann, whose stepdaughter Dana Petrenko, 23, died alongside her boyfriend, stood with his family at a small memorial dedicated to them.
He remarked, ‘It feels no different today than when it happened two years ago. We go to work, we keep on living. But we can’t shake the feeling that it’s still October 7.’
Reporting contributed by Aaron Boxerman from Kfar Aza, Israel; Gabby Sobelman from Rehovot; Bilal Shbair from Deir al-Balah, Gaza; and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem.
A correction was made on October 7, 2025: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this article mistakenly identified a victim of an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. The individual killed at a march supporting Israeli hostages was a woman, not a man.