
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Rocket sirens sounded in southern Israel on Tuesday after fire from Gaza as Israelis began to mark the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attack in which Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The massacre in southern Israel by Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by Israel’s government and most of its allies, was the deadliest single attack in the Jewish nation’s history and was called the “worst atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust,” also known as the Shoah.
At the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 370 people were killed, families observed a minute of silence at 6:29 a.m., the exact time the assault began.
“We live with the trauma every day, but we also stand for life,” a relative of a Nova festival victim told reporters at the site.
Memorial events were also held in devastated kibbutzim such as Be’eri and Kfar Aza, according to eyewitnesses and local media.
THOUSANDS GATHER
In Tel Aviv, thousands rallied to demand the release of hostages still held in Gaza. Posters with the faces of abducted Israelis remain visible at bus stops and in public squares across the country.
However, rocket sirens sounded in southern Israel on Tuesday after fire from Gaza, though no casualties were reported.
The confrontation came as negotiations, mediated by Egypt, continued between Israel and Hamas over a potential ceasefire and prisoner exchange.
The October 7 atrocity, also referred to as “Black Sabbath,” will be observed during Israel’s official national ceremony of remembrance scheduled for October 16 at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, following the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, organizers said
As the mourning continues, homes destroyed in 2023 remain charred and abandoned, while some communities have begun rebuilding, still hopeful that peace will emerge one day.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday issued his strongest public denunciation yet of extremist settler violence in Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank), promising “very forceful action” amid a sharp rise in attacks that has drawn concern from Israeli security officials, international partners, and Washington.
In the immediate aftermath of Democrats losing the budget showdown that plunged Washington into a weeks-long government shutdown, House Republicans say the Left is now scrambling for a distraction — reviving the long-dormant fight over the Jeffrey Epstein files in what GOP leaders call a transparently political maneuver to wound President Donald Trump.
Iranian authorities have begun large-scale cloud-seeding operations in a desperate bid to generate rainfall as the country confronts its most severe drought in decades, state media reported over the weekend.
President Donald Trump is expected to finalize a landmark agreement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that would allow Riyadh to acquire advanced U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jets—part of a sweeping package of economic, defense, and normalization initiatives set to be unveiled at the White House this week.
In a historic and unprecedented step, Israel has begun pumping desalinated Mediterranean water into the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret), marking the first time anywhere in the world that processed seawater is being used to replenish a natural freshwater lake. The initiative comes as the iconic biblical lake continues to suffer from years of drought, falling rainfall, and declining spring flow.
United Nations nuclear inspectors are sounding alarms after Iran continued blocking access to key nuclear facilities bombed in June by the United States and Israel, leaving the world uncertain about the fate of Tehran’s near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile. According to confidential reports obtained by multiple outlets, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not verified Iran’s highly enriched uranium inventory since mid-June, when coordinated strikes destroyed major parts of Iran’s enrichment infrastructure.
Hungary’s rightwing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has launched a weeks-long “anti-war roadshow,” turning his long-standing criticism of European support for Ukraine into a central campaign theme ahead of next April’s national elections.