A divided Israel marks 2 years since Oct. 7 attack as war in Gaza grinds on and hostages languish

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00:00Today marks the two-year anniversary of the October 7th attack, the deadliest terror attack

00:17in Israel's history. Private ceremonies are taking place across the country, but the official

00:22remembrance ceremony won't take place until the 16th of the month, delayed because of the Jewish

00:27holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles. Ellen Gainsford told us more.

00:39Sirens sound in Tel Aviv as people gather in Hostage Square to remember the dead. On the

00:46anniversary of the deadliest terror attack in Israel's history, there's a newfound sense of hope

00:52as a finalized deal appears closer than ever.

00:57Today, on the 7th of October, two years later, we have an opportunity. We are standing here

01:07with great hope, but also great fear. We support everyone who advances this opportunity and who

01:16helps end this suffering.

01:22In Kaffar Azzer, in southern Israel, there was a minute of silence.

01:28The kibbutz was one of the hardest-hit communities during the attack. The ceremony began at 6.29am

01:35local time, marking the moment when Hamas launched rockets into Israel, the start of the October

01:427th attack two years ago. At least 62 residents of the kibbutz were killed and 19 taken hostage.

01:49At the site of the Nova Music Festival, panels with photos of the 370, mainly young people who lost their

01:58lives here, have been installed.

02:00I was here at the Nova Festival. We came ten people and came back seven. Three of our beloved friends

02:10Unfortunately, he died here. Sean, Davidashvili, Evgeny Postel, and Liot Kach. Three of our friends.

02:22Official commemoration ceremonies won't take place until the 16th of October, after the Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah.

02:32Now one of the hostages who was killed in captivity by Hamas was Carmel Gat. The occupational therapist

02:38was kidnapped from her parents' home on October 7th, 2023. She was then killed by Hamas in 2024 after

02:46surviving horrifying conditions in captivity for close to a year. Her body was retrieved along with

02:51five others by the Israeli army in a tunnel in southern Gaza. Carmel's cousin, Gil Dickman,

02:57has been one of the most vocal fighters for the hostages release. He joins me now live from Tel Aviv.

03:02Gil, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today on such a somber day for you and your

03:06family. Here we are two years after your cousin was taken, her mother, your aunt, was killed on that

03:12day as well. How are you commemorating this day today? Well, you saw it for yourself in the video

03:20that you showed before. It was my sister actually speaking in a square in Tel Aviv, speaking about

03:26the hostages that are still there. The most important thing after two years of this horrible war

03:32is not the suffering that we've been through during these two years. It's not the fact that

03:37we lost Kineret, although we lost her. It's not the fact that even that we lost Carmel after 328 days

03:43in captivity. It's the fact that 48 hostages are still in captivity. And think about that. After

03:51suffering October 7th, they were kidnapped. And then for two years, this horrible massacre is ongoing for

03:58them. It's just long lasting for for two years right now. And so we are focused on putting the

04:06issue of the hostages center stage and making sure this horrible war ends before it is too late for

04:14more hostages like it was too late for our beloved Komet. Gil, what are you and the other families and

04:19friends of the hostages doing to keep the pressure up on the Israeli government?

04:23Well, for the last few months, we had

04:31an assembly of tents right in front of the House of Prime Minister Netanyahu. And we urged him to put

04:39an end to this. We're coming to the Israeli parliament to the Knesset to speak to our elected officials to

04:46try to make sure that the issue of the hostages is not off the table, because we know once that they

04:54managed to make the Israeli public forget about the hostages, it's over. And they might stay there for

05:02eternity or even die or be lost in captivity. We understood that for a very long time, it was

05:11the decision of the Israeli government to prolong the war and not to finish it in order to get the

05:18hostages back. But right now, after what happened last week, the meeting with Donald Trump and the

05:2620 point plan to end the war, it looks like finally we're coming towards an end to this horrible nightmare.

05:35Not because Netanyahu decided that he wanted to end the war, but because Trump said so. And so in Trump,

05:41we trust. We understand that Trump wants to end this war. This is what we want. This is what most of

05:47the people of Israel want and what most of the people of Gaza want. If Hamas and Netanyahu want to carry on

05:54fighting, don't do it on our expense. Just end this war, get the hostages home and stop innocent people

06:02from dying on both sides of the border. Do you think Donald Trump is really capable of

06:06keeping the pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been so resistant, some would say,

06:11to ending this war over the past two years? Do you think Trump really is the key to make things change?

06:15I believe Trump is the one who wrote the book The Art of the Deal. He's the master of deals and he's the most

06:25powerful person in the world. And so if he decides that it is time to end this, I think he's the right person to do so.

06:33And for a very long time, President Biden tried to convince Netanyahu and to put pressure on him.

06:40Netanyahu decided that he is fooling Biden or trying to fool Biden, that he's saying that he wants to end

06:47this war by actually prolonging it. He tried to do the same to Donald Trump, but we warned Donald Trump

06:53and said, don't let Netanyahu fool you like he fooled President Biden. It looks like now President Trump

07:00understands this. And he decided that he wants to promote peace in the Middle East. I believe

07:09when this agreement is finally, when this deal is finally signed, he definitely deserves a noble

07:16peace prize for getting the hostages back and for ending this war. Just make it happen. And he's

07:21the only person who can do that. Gil, what about Hamas? Do you think that Hamas is capable of sticking

07:27with this peace plan? Can you trust them after all you and your family have been through?

07:33It's very hard for us to trust Hamas, as you can probably understand. I saw with my own eyes,

07:39my aunt Kineret being dragged and led by Hamas inside Kibbutz Beiri, and then just shooting her,

07:47executing her because they didn't have anything else to do with the human hostages that they took.

07:57And after 328 days, it was Hamas people who murdered my cousin Kamel Gat. So I consider Hamas to be a

08:05terror organization that is filled with murderers. But the only choice we have is to get them to the

08:13table to sign a deal and then to make sure they follow through. They are going to try whatever they can

08:18to make the suffering longer. They don't care whether people on their side of the border, the people

08:24of Gaza, where they're killed or not, it is good news for them when innocent people die on either side

08:29of the border. But we have no other choice. The extremists on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side

08:35cannot control the lives of the many people who want this to end, who want the war to finally be

08:42over and who want people to come back home. We have to do it by signing a deal between the two

08:48parties, between the two sides, Israel and Hamas. And then we will have to rebuild in many, many ways

08:56the relationship between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the area because nobody's going

09:01nowhere. We're going nowhere as Israelis. We're staying here. That's our home. And the Palestinians

09:05are going nowhere. Gail, thank you for that. That's Gil Dickman speaking to me live there from Tel Aviv.

09:10Thank you. Thank you very much.

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