Two years on: Survivors of 7 October still haunted as peace talks falter

Shiva K Dhakal
National Press Corporation(NPC)
United Kingdom-Israelis are marking two years since Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage — an assault that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

At the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds were killed, mourners gathered to light candles and lay flowers, embracing one another in moments of quiet reflection.

“Nothing in life prepares you for such a situation,” said Gadi Moses, the oldest Israeli hostage to have been released. “I didn’t see anyone for 481 days.”

In Egypt, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are continuing indirect talks on Donald Trump’s proposed 20-point peace plan. BBC’s Gaza correspondent says that while there are cautious signs of progress, few Palestinians dare to hope for a breakthrough.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 67,173 people have been killed in Israel’s subsequent military campaign — a figure that cannot be independently verified.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged students to stay away from pro-Palestinian demonstrations, calling them “un-British” and warning universities against “allowing division to fester on campuses.”

‘Still feels like yesterday’: A community struggles to heal

In southern Israel, survivors of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities on 7 October 2023, are still coming to terms with their losses.

Speaking to the BBC, British-Israeli resident Simon King said it “still feels like yesterday” that families were hiding in safe rooms as gunmen rampaged through the kibbutz, burning homes and shooting residents.

“About one in ten residents were killed that day,” he said. “Thirty were kidnapped – four of them remain in Gaza, all of them dead.”

Most of Be’eri’s surviving residents now live in a temporary settlement about 40 minutes away, many still too traumatised to return.

King said he was pessimistic about peace, adding: “We don’t seem any closer to resolving the problem.”