Israel marks October 7 anniversary as Gaza talks proceed

One woman affected by death and displacement is Rozan Al Madhoun, and she spoke to DW in Deir al-Balah.

In the northern Italian city of Turin, police reported around 6,000 people marched in a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Tuesday evening, according to Italian media.

Protesters of all ages cheered and waved Palestinian flags as they walked through the center of the city. 

Demonstrators at the front of the march carried a banner reading: "The genocide is not over, we are the resistance. We continue to block everything."

Turin police had attempted to call off the protest to avoid clashes with the 2-year-commemoration of Hamas' attack on Israel, but stopped short of issuing an official ban. 

Hundreds of protesters in Bologna, in Italy's north, also tried to hold a pro-Palestinian march despite an official ban.

Police confiscated megaphones and used batons and water cannons to drive the protesters out of the city center.

Several dozen protesters, including three journalists, were injured in the scuffles with Bologna police, according to Italy's la Repubblica newspaper. 

Under the slogan "Block everything, (Blocchiamo tutto)" Italians have been protesting for days over Israel's interception of vessels from the Sumud Flotilla, which attempted to deliver aid to Gaza. 

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said that she had been accused of "complicity in genocide" in a complaint to the International Criminal Court. 

The complaint, which includes two other ministers, is over Italy's support for Israel amid its offensive in Gaza, Meloni said in an interview with state television broadcaster RAI on Tuesday. 

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had been denounced, she said in the televised comments.

Meloni said she was "amazed" by the accusation of complicity in genocide because "anyone who knows the situation is aware that Italy has not authorized new, let's say, arms supplies to Israel after October 7."

"I don't believe there is another case like this in the world or in history," Meloni said.

She didn't elaborate on who filed the complaint.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog have given statements on the second anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks.

Both emphasized the return of the dozens of hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"We are in fateful, decisive days. We will continue to act to achieve all the war's objectives and the return of all abductees, the elimination of Hamas' rule and ensuring that Gaza will never again post a threat to Israel," Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said.  

"Two years since that dark day, October 7 2023, the day Israel's soul was torn apart, when Hamas terrorists unleashed unspeakable evil against innocent men, women and children," Herzog said. "From that darkness rose the courage of our soldiers, the heroism of our citizens, and the unity of a people who refused to break." 

"We will not rest, we will not be silent, until all 48 hostages are home," Herzog added.

Syrian government forces have announced a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces following deadly clashes in the northeastern city of Aleppo.

In a statement on X posted on Tuesday, Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said he had met in Damascus with Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi, head of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"We agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, and on points for military deployment in north and northeast Syria," Qasra said. 

The deal with be implemented immediately, he said. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and state media said that a "tense calm" prevailed in the affected neighborhoods in Aleppo.

Deadly clashes between government-allied security forces and local Kurdish fighters erupted overnight Monday in two Kurdish-held Aleppo districts. There were conflicting accounts of what triggered the fighting.

The Kurdish-led region in northeastern Syria has seen increased tension as the new government tries to bring the region under its authority.

DW spoke with Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009, on the 2nd anniversary of the October 7 attacks and amid the latest international efforts to broker an end to the conflict in Gaza.

Olmert described October 7 as "the most traumatic day" in the State of Israel's entire history, saying there was a "universal attitude at the time" to try to reach the perpetrators and destroy the group behind the attack. He also said it was obvious that the military operations would take a heavy civilian toll, given Gaza's demography and Hamas' tactics.  

"Today, we are marking the second anniversary, two years. And the situation today is not what it was then," he said. "The rage, the trauma is still there for Israelis. But after fighting two years, we have to ask ourselves, where do we want all this to go? How can we end it up in a way that will perhaps establish a basis for some different developments in the future? And I think that there is a growing number of Israelis — I think more than 75% of Israelis understand that enough is enough."

Olmert said his opinion on the conflict has been more or less unchanged for 18 months now, when he first called on the Israeli government to consider halting operations in Gaza. 

"I thought a year and a half ago that we have exhausted what can be done by a military operation."

"It is important that people across the world, definitely in Germany, will know that millions of Israelis think that the war should stop, that we're against any further military actions, that we are not looking to kill more innocent, non-involved Palestinians," Olmert said. "This is not the purpose. This is not the objective. This is not the desire of Israelis."

US, Israeli and Hamas delegations are taking part in the second day of indirect talks in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to end the Gaza war and secure the release of hostages taken during the October 7 terror attack on Israel.

The delegations are discussing US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan.  

In addition to ending the war and releasing the Israeli hostages, the 20-point plan envisions Gaza as a "de-radicalized terror-zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors." The plan also advocates for the formation of a "technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee" to take charge of Gaza, with Hamas giving up power.

The 20-point plan also says that Israel must not occupy or annex Gaza, with the US and Arab-backed temporary International Stabilization Force deployed in the Gaza Strip. Jordan and Egypt would assist in vetting Palestinian police forces in Gaza to ensure security.     

Who is at the Egypt talks? 

US Special Envoy to Middle East Steve Witkoff is taking part in the Egypt talks, along with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.   

According to Israeli media, Mossad and Shin Bet officials are representing the Israeli side. Ophir Falk, a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is also at the talks, along with hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch.   

Khalil al-Hayya is leading the Hamas delegation in the Egypt talks. Al-Hayya recently survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar.  

A senior Egyptian official told the Associated Press that Hamas urged security guarantees that Israel won't resume fighting once the militant-Islamist group releases the hostages.

Hamas is believed to be currently holding 48 Israeli hostages, with less than half of them still assumed to be alive. 

Reuters news agency reported that US officials are focusing first on a stop to the fighting and the logistics of how Israeli hostages would be released from Gaza.

Trump's 20-point plan also allows for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel once Hamas releases the Israeli hostages.  

On Wednesday, Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will go to Egypt to participate in the Gaza talks. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will also attend the talks on Wednesday. 

Berlin Police have barred a pro-Palestinian demonstration from taking place this evening at the Alexanderplatz square in the city center. 

The police said criminal proceedings have already started in regards to the planned demonstration. The police said they also assumed that the event would be "unpeaceful."

Despite the ban, police reported between 50 and 100 people showed up at Alexanderplatz before being ordered to disperse. 

Berlin Police prohibited other pro-Palestinian demos in the city on Tuesday and deployed more than 1,000 officers to enforce the ban.   

On social media, some announcements for the planned demonstration described the Hamas October 7 terror attacks as "heroic."

Daily protests in Berlin were expected this week under the slogan "United 4 Gaza."

Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner said, "Berlin is not a place where terror, antisemitism, and brutal murders should be glorified." Berlin lawmaker Martin Matz, of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), welcomed the ban and "thanked the police for the decision."

Christopher Förster of the center-right CDU, another lawmaker in Berlin's state parliament, also expressed gratitude to the police for banning the demonstration.    

UN children's agency UNICEF has described poor conditions for Palestinian babies in Gaza amid Israel's continued assault on the Palestinian enclave. 

In an interview with Reuters news agency, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said that Israel has rejected requests to transfer incubators from Al-Rantissi Children's Hospital in northern Gaza to Nasser Hospital in the south.

An Israeli offensive in Gaza City has shuttered hospitals in northern Gaza, putting a higher burden on medical facilities in the south. 

"We've been trying to recover incubators from a hospital that was evacuated in the north, and we've had four missions denied simply to get those incubators," Elder said. 

Elder said that premature babies at Nasser Hospital are sharing oxygen equipment due to a lack of supplies. He described a scene at one of the pediatric rooms "where there were three babies and three moms in a single bed, one source of oxygen, and the mothers would rotate the oxygen 20 minutes to each child."

The Israeli government did not respond to Reuters when it asked about a response to Elder's comments. 

Rights groups have warned of the dire impact that Israeli's military actions are having on Palestinian children in Gaza.   

International NGO  Save the Children said in a statement in September that at least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average by the Israeli military in Gaza over nearly 23 months of war, with the total number of child deaths estimated at 20,000.   

DW Jerusalem-based correspondent Emily Gordine visited Kibbutz Re'im in southern Israel, where Israelis were remembering the victims of the Nova music festival massacre on October 7. 

The open-air festival was ambushed by Hamas members as part of the multi-pronged October 7 terror attack on Israel. Hamas members arrived on paragliders at the festival and killed 378 people, with dozens of others also being taken hostage into Gaza from the event.

Both survivors of the massacre and family members of the victims were present at Kibbutz Re'im, two years after the attack.  

"It’s been two years now since the cursed day my son was murdered, every time we come to Re’im we come here to be with my child. Two years ago our lives changed from end to end on the black Saturday," Vera Moshe told DW.

Her son, 27-year-old Eden David Moshe, was a student of electrical engineering who was attending the festival with several of his friends. 

"We live and we don’t at the same time. It’s tough, it’s really tough, the pain is not going away, it’s becoming stronger and stronger. The longing: why did he not survive? Why is he not with us? We miss him very much. It’s tough, it’s very tough without him,” Vera Moshe added.

Sonya Koshin, a Nova survivor, told DW she came to Kibbutz Re'im to "connect with my feelings."

"I came today with my family to show them where I was and where I escaped to. To see friends. There are signs here of friends who were murdered, who I know. I’m a partygoer for many years now and I know a considerable amount of people who were murdered," Koshin said. "Whether they were close to me or less so. We have one friend who was with us and he was murdered, a close friend. His name was Hezi. So I came here today to show and to explain." 

At a time when Israelis an Palestinians could not be further apart, DW's David Ehl spoke to top research on conflict and its resolutions as to what a future of peace might look like.

Can there ever be understanding when 67% of Israelis said they agreed with the statement "there are no innocent people in Gaza"?

Read more here: Can Israelis and Palestinians reconcile after Gaza war?

US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have commented on the two-year anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks on Israel. 

"On this second anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks of October 7, we remember all the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas," Vance said in a post on X. "And we continue to work towards President Trump's plan to bring the remaining hostages home and build a lasting peace for all."

"The United States reaffirms its unwavering support for Israel's right to exist, to defend itself, and to ensure the safety of its people," US top diplomat Rubio said in a press statement. "As the United States marks this tragic anniversary and honors the victims, we renew our resolve to prevent such evil from ever taking place again."   

The statements from Vance and Rubio come as US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff leads a delegation for talks in Egypt to end the war in Gaza. Israeli and Hamas delegations are also present at the indirect talks.  

Friends and relatives of those killed in Re'im, the site of the Nova music festival, returned to the area to mark two years since they lost their loved ones.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used the anniversary of the October 7 attacks to demand that Hamas release the Israeli hostages it is still holding.

"I have said it time and again, and I am repeating it today with even greater urgency: Release the hostages, unconditionally and immediately," he said in a statement.

Alluding to the talks in Egypt, he said: "End the suffering for all. ... Put an end to the hostilities in Gaza, Israel and the region now. Stop making civilians pay with their lives and their futures. After two years of trauma, we must choose hope. Now."

Kibbutz Be'eri near the border with Gaza was one of the hardest-hit communities during the October 7 attacks. Amit Salvi is one of the few residents who had returned and is trying to rebuild.