Israelis gather to mark two years since 7 October Hamas attack as Gaza ceasefire talks continue – live | Gaza

Lisa O’Carroll

British journalist Yvonne Ridley, who had been reported as missing by the Global Sumud Flotilla following detention by the Israelis last week, is safe and in Jordan, Scottish media have reported.

Newsquest journalist Lucy Jackson posted a photograph of Ridley in Jordan.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson has been quoted by the AFP news agency as having said that Israel should have ceased its attacks on Gaza already in line with Donald Trump’s plan to bring an end to the war.

Majed al-Ansari told reporters in Doha:

We await the outcomes of the negotiations in the coming days regarding the ceasefire.

This question should be directed first to the Israeli occupation government.

It was supposed to actually cease fire if the statements made by the prime minister there regarding adherence to the Trump plan were true.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators are playing key parts in the talks between Hamas and Israel.

“I have no doubt that this round of negotiations is a process in which all parties are strongly committed to reaching a consensus, but there are many details to consider,” Ansari added.

He said the plan’s clauses “require practical interpretation on the ground, which of course requires communication with all parties”.

Tensions are still high between Qatar and Israel after an Israeli attack on Doha targeting the Hamas leadership last month.

Hamas has said that all of its leaders were safe, but five lower-ranked members were reportedly killed. Qatar said one of its security forces was killed in the attack and accused Israel of “state terrorism”.

It said the attack, which drew fierce international condemnation, seriously undermined ceasefire negotiations, but there is now renewed momentum for some kind of deal to be reached under the US plan.

A US delegation led by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will join talks aimed at a truce in Gaza and hostage and prisoner exchange on Wednesday, Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty has said.

In a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, Abdelatty said they “had a long conversation with Steve Witkoff, who is expected in Egypt in the coming hours”.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader who was one of the targets of an Israeli assassination attempt in Doha, Qatar, last month, was in Sharm el-Sheikh for indirect talks with Israel on Trump’s 20-point plan yesterday.

The US is being represented by Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and former presidential adviser Jared Kushner.

Mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US have been holding shuttle talks between the Hamas and Israeli negotiating teams.

The indirect talks are continuing taking place in Egypt between delegations from Hamas and Israel today. There have been no reports of significant breakthroughs yet.

In a statement posted to social media, Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, called the deadly Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 “horrifying”, adding that “time does not diminish the evil we saw that day”.

He said:

The worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The brutal, cold blooded torture and murder of Jews in their own homes. And the taking of hostages, including British citizens, some of whom remain in Gaza today.

Since that awful day, so many have endured a living nightmare. When I spoke with some of the families of the British hostages, I promised them in person that we will not cease in our efforts to bring their loved ones home.

But back here in the UK, our Jewish communities have also endured rising antisemitism on our streets, in our country. And last week, a horrifying terrorist attack on the holy day of Yom Kippur in Manchester.

This is a stain on who we are, and this country will always stand tall and united against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities.

Starmer was, for a long time, largely supportive of Israel’s military response to the 7 October attack, insisting on the country’s right to “defend itself” despite the high civilian death toll in Gaza.

Starmer prompted fury after he said Israel had “the right” to withhold water and power from Palestinian people, in October 2023. In the same interview Starmer told LBC “obviously everything should be done within international law” and later clarified his remarks.

Over the last few months, the British prime minister, often in coordination with western allies, has become increasingly vocal against Israel’s assault on Gaza and the lack of aid being allowed in which has caused famine conditions in parts of the Strip.

In a rare defiance of the US on foreign policy, the UK recognised Palestinian statehood, along with a slew of other countries including Canada and Australia, last month, provoking anger in the Netanyahu government and a rebuke from Washington.

Deborah Cole

Deborah Cole is Berlin correspondent for the Guardian

Germany marked the two-year anniversary of the 7 October attacks with sombre commemorations across the country and official flags pulled to half mast.

In a video address, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a staunch but increasingly critical supporter of Israel, warned against the rise of antisemitism in Germany “in old and new guises … on social media, at the universities, on our streets – ever louder, ever more shameless and increasingly also in the form of violence”.

He called on Germans to show their solidarity with Jews. “Go to our Jewish citizens today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, wherever you can,” he said. “Let us all show that we stand by their side. And that together we will do everything we can to ensure that Jews here in Germany can live without fear, that they can live with confidence.”

In a pre-dawn ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, the names of the victims of the Hamas attacks were read out, followed by an ecumenical memorial service at a nearby cathedral.

This evening a vigil against antisemitism will be held near Humboldt University in the capital, at the same time as a pro-Palestinian “Stop the Genocide” rally at Alexanderplatz.

At the former Tempelhof airport, a memorial commemoration “October 7, 06:29 – The Moment Music Stood Still” will partially re-enact the Nova festival that Hamas attacked.

On talks on a ceasefire in the region, Merz said he “underlines our demand: all hostages must be released immediately,” adding that he placed “great hope” in the US-backed peace process.

Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, who is on a Middle East tour, told German media he was hopeful a ceasefire could be reached between Hamas and Israel as early as next week. He rejected accusations by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Europe had been a no-show in the negotiations.

“Europe is important. The two permanent members of the security council, Britain and France, are important. I also believe that the European Union is important” to securing a deal, he told a podcast hosted by Bild reporter Paul Ronzheimer. He pledged German funds for rebuilding Gaza immediately after the war’s end.

Despite the US president, Donald Trump, ordering Israel to stop its bombing, Israeli forces have continued attacks on Gaza, according to local reports.

Seven people, including one aid worker, have been killed in Israeli gunfire and shelling across Gaza since dawn, Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting.

Residents in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and Gaza City in the north, reported heavy bombing from tanks and planes in the early hours on Tuesday, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.

Here are some more pictures coming out of Israel on the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack:

Israelis have gathered across the country to mark the second anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October attack, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage during an unprecedented assault on southern Israel.

Unofficial commemorations are being held in the small kibbutzim of southern Israel whose members were killed or kidnapped, and a large rally will be held in Tel Aviv to call for the release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

A separate government memorial is set to be held on the Hebrew calendar anniversary next week in Israel’s national cemetery on Mount Herzl.

People held a moment of silence at the site of Israel’s Nova music festival to remember the victims of the 7 October attack early this morning, and bereaved families and survivors have been gathering since to commemorate victims.

The festival site was in the Negev desert, near the Re’im kibbutz close to the Gaza border, which was overrun by Hamas fighters during the attack.

Hamas militants killed 360 people and kidnapped dozens of others at the festival site where about 3,500 people had been partying.

The first round of Gaza talks between Hamas and mediators have ended in Egypt “amid a positive atmosphere”, Egyptian state-linked media reported early on Tuesday.

Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, reported the talks will continue on Tuesday, also between Hamas and mediators in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where an Israeli delegation arrived on Monday.

Israel and Hamas are expected to engage in indirect talks on the details of a proposal by US President Donald Trump for a hostage-prisoner exchange and long-term ceasefire.

Trump’s 20-point plan specifies an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body.

One of Hamas’s main conditions since the outset of the war has been a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of the remaining hostages. And while the Palestinian militant group has indicated its readiness to relinquish administrative authority, it has consistently ruled out disarming.

During this first phase of talks, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to prepare ground conditions for the release of the remaining 48 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 1,700 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and to determine the date of a temporary truce.

This round of negotiations is expected to be difficult and complex, and could last for several days, according to reports. We will have more details on the negotiations shortly.

The talks comes as Israelis across the country prepare to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage.