Re’im, southern of Israel – The people of Israel mark Tuesday a dark stage, crying their dead two years after the terrorist attack led by October 7, 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed that day, most civilians and 251 others hostage. Israeli officials believe that 48 people are still retained in captivity in Gaza, only 20 of them who are alive.
Their families are desperate for an agreement to end the war and bring their loved ones home.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel Begrowed a second day in Egypt, stimulated by President Trump’s calls for the two parties to accept a cease-fire based on his peace proposal recently announced in 20 points.
The pressure rose to Israel and Hamas not only of the White House, but around the world, many Arab neighbors of Israel pushing Hamas to accept a peace agreement and to support Mr. Trump’s proposal.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty
In a striking message what he called “the most brutal terrorist attack in the history of Israel”, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed the “unshakable support of the American government to the right of Israel to exist, defend itself and ensure the security of its people”.
Rubio said that the Trump administration “directed the effort to guarantee the release of all hostages, put an end to the reign of Hamas in Gaza and advance a lasting peace which guarantees not only the security of Israel, but generational peace and prosperity for the region”.
“I have said it repeatedly, and I repeat it today with an even greater emergency: to release the hostages, unconditionally and immediately,” said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a statement. “End of hostilities in Gaza, Israel and in the region now. Stop paying civilians with their lives and future.”
The main commemorative event of October 7, on the Place des Otages de Tel Aviv, was organized by bereaved families – and not by the government, reflecting deep divisions on the leaders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the attack.
Many Israelis blame it for not having brought all the hostages home.
The attack on Hamas sparked the share of Israel, devastating War in the Gaza Strip. More than 67,000 people were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Huge expanses of the coastal enclave, which houses more than 2 million people, have been destroyed.
Another memorial was set up on the Nova Music Festival site, near the Gaza border in the South Israeli desert. It was Invaded by Hamas terrorists On October 7, two years ago, and nearly 380 people were killed.
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Orit Baron, whose daughter Yuval was one of the festival-goers killed that day, with her fiancé Moshe Shuva, told the French press agency AFP that she came to the site “to be with her, because it is the last time that she was alive”.
Baron was one of the dozens of friends and relatives of those who killed, and others simply wishing to pay tribute. Many lit candles and stood for a minute of silence, remembering those who lost terrorism.
As they did, the sounds of the war in Gaza, a few kilometers away, continued to resonate in the air.
And Tucker Reals contributed to this report.
