Commemorations held in kibbutzim whose members were killed or kidnapped as Tel Aviv rally to call for hostages’ release
Israelis gathered across the country on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault on southern Israel.
Unofficial commemorations were held in the small kibbutzim of southern Israel whose members were killed or kidnapped, and a large rally was due to be held in Tel Aviv to call for the release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
At the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 370 people were killed and dozens taken hostage, relatives returned at dawn to mourn the dead. At 6.29am – the precise time when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack – there was a minute’s silence.
Tuesday will also mark the second anniversary of the start of Israel’s military campaign on the Gaza Strip, which has brought material and human destruction to the people living there.
