From kibbutzim rebuilt from ash to tents along the Gaza coast, families on both sides of the border wake to the same silence — the absence of those they love.
3 Narratives News | October 7, 2025
Intro
At sunrise this morning, two mothers lit candles.
One stood outside her apartment in Tel Aviv, the other inside a shelter in Rafah.
Neither knows if the person she prays for is still alive.
It has been two years since October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. More than 250 hostages were taken into Gaza. Israel’s response turned into a war that has since killed over 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and displaced most of the enclave’s population.
Today, memorials and vigils are held in both lands, one side marking loss, the other surviving it.
The Israeli Victims
The Israeli Victims
It began just after dawn.
By Bodycam footage: No human authorship – https://www.wsj.com/video/cctv-shows-hamas-militants-attack-on-kibbutz-beeri/BD0AE9E0-36E8-43A1-88F9-30794FC02977, Public Domain, Link
At 6:29 a.m. on October 7, 2023, as many Israelis were celebrating the last day of the holiday of Simchat Torah, sirens started wailing across southern Israel. What first sounded like another rocket attack quickly turned into something no one had imagined.
Hundreds of Hamas gunmen breached the fence separating Gaza from Israel, entering through at least 30 points along the border. They came by motorcycles, pickup trucks, and even motorized paragliders. Within minutes, they were inside towns and villages that had always felt safe.
The first target was the Nova music festival near Re’im, where thousands of young people were dancing in the open desert. Videos later showed crowds fleeing in every direction as militants opened fire. By the end of that morning, more than 360 festivalgoers were dead, and dozens more had been taken hostage.
The attackers then moved to nearby kibbutzim to small communal villages like Be’eri, Kfar Aza, and Nir Oz, where families hid in safe rooms, whispering to children to stay quiet. Many of those safe rooms became tombs.
In Be’eri alone, at least 130 people were killed, homes set on fire, and others dragged across the border into Gaza. Israeli emergency services, overwhelmed and unprepared, took hours to reach the scene.
“It was not a war, it was a massacre,”
said Maya Zilber, a survivor from Kfar Aza. “They went house to house. My neighbour’s children were taken; my parents never made it to the shelter.”
By nightfall, more than 1,200 people had been killed — men, women, children, police officers, farmers, and festivalgoers. Another 251 were kidnapped, from infants to grandparents. Some were later found murdered in Gaza; others were traded in hostage exchanges. Dozens are still missing.
The shock reverberated far beyond Israel. For many Jews around the world, it was the single worst day of violence against their people since the Holocaust.
In the kibbutz of Be’eri, rebuilt houses stand beside burned ones. Birds nest in window frames where gunfire once tore through.
At exactly 6:29 a.m., sirens sounded across Israel, freezing traffic for a minute of silence. At Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, thousands gathered, holding signs that read “Bring Them Home.”
“It’s been two years and we are still half-alive,”
Said Noa Argamani, freed after 245 days in captivity. “Every time I breathe, I think of those still underground.”
Nearby, Eli Sadan, whose daughter Tamar was killed at the Nova music festival, whispered her name instead of singing the national anthem. “We built this country from mourning,” he said, “but I never thought we would have to do it again.”
Across Jerusalem, survivors walked to synagogues carrying photos instead of prayer books. Many still ask how such an attack could have happened under the world’s most guarded border.
More than 360 festivalgoers were murdered at the Nova site, and dozens from nearby kibbutzim remain missing or confirmed dead. For families of the 48 hostages believed still in Gaza, hope has hardened into routine — yellow ribbons on trees, empty chairs at dinner tables, petitions to a government they no longer trust.
An Israeli teacher, Liat Ben-David, put it simply: “We don’t want revenge anymore. We want return.”
The Israeli Response (Seen from Gaza)
In the city of Deir al-Balah, the smell of dust mixes with sea air. Children line up for lentil soup at a UN food station. “We used to feed our families,” said Hassan Al-Najjar, a baker whose shop was destroyed. “Now we wait to be fed.”
Since Israel’s counter-offensive began, Gaza’s landscape has collapsed into concrete and hunger. Hospitals operate without power. Families crowd in schools turned shelters.
Health officials say more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israel disputes the number, but no one in Gaza doubts the loss. Aid agencies warn that famine in the north has already taken hundreds of children.
“We bury our dead in the morning and look for water in the afternoon,”
said Dr. Amina Shurab, a surgeon at Al-Aqsa Hospital. “The war never sleeps.”
Many Palestinians say they no longer separate the sound of drones from the sound of wind. “Every night,” said Leila Hassouna, displaced from Jabalia, “we tell our children stories of the sea so they forget the sky.”
To them, this anniversary is not a date but a season — one of loss that keeps repeating.
Israel says its campaign targets Hamas fighters and tunnels, not civilians. Officials insist that any ceasefire must include the release of all hostages. But in Gaza, where communication is scarce, few believe negotiations can match the speed of bombs.
The Silent Story
Between remembrance and ruin, ordinary people wait.
In a hospital in Ashkelon, an Israeli nurse checks the names of the wounded she once treated in 2023. Some have returned for therapy; others will never walk again. In Khan Younis, a Palestinian doctor wraps a bandage made from bedsheets. Both speak the same word when asked why they keep going: children.
The border that divides them also joins them in exhaustion. The hunger in Gaza and the nightmares in Israel are mirrors of the same wound.
Humanitarian groups say tens of thousands face starvation, yet even amid desperation, there are gestures of grace. Israeli volunteers send medicine through intermediaries. Palestinians release short videos of hostages alive, hoping to prompt a deal.
Two years on, no one believes in victory — only in less losing. Families of hostages plead for an exchange; Gazan mothers plead for food. Each side calls what they do defence. Each side calls what they suffer loss.
In both lands, people light candles at dusk. Some for faith, some for science, some for survival. The flames look the same from either shore.
Key Takeaways
- October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel and led to 251 hostages being taken.
- Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents.
- Roughly 48 hostages remain unaccounted for in Gaza; families continue to demand a deal.
- Memorials in Israel honour victims while protests urge faster action; in Gaza, famine and disease persist amid limited aid.
- Across both societies, grief has replaced rhetoric — a reminder that there is no victory in loss, only endurance.
Questions This Article Answers
1. What happened on October 7 2023 and why is it remembered as a turning point?
2. How many Israelis and Palestinians have died since the attack?
3. What is the current status of the remaining hostages?
4. How are civilians on both sides living through the aftermath?
5. Is there any progress toward a ceasefire or humanitarian agreement?
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