STORY: Israelis held a memorial ceremony in Kfar Aza near the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (October 7) to commemorate those killed and taken hostages by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.

The ceremony took place at 6:29 a.m, the hour when Hamas launched rockets into Israel at the start of October 7.

The Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel was ravaged and hit hard two years ago when the militants overwhelmed Israeli border defences with a surprise assault and dragged 251 hostages back into Gaza.

There are 48 remaining hostages in the enclave, 20 of whom are alive.

The Hamas-led assault, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed according to Israeli tallies, triggered a massive military retaliation that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza according to health authorities there.

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VIDEO SHOWS: COMMUNITY OF KIBBUTZ KFAR AZA IN ISRAEL HOLD A MEMORIAL CEREMONY MARKING THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF OCTOBER 7

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: KFAR AZA, ISRAEL (OCTOBER 7, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PEOPLE ARRIVING AT MEMORIAL CEREMONY

2. PEOPLE LOOKING AT POSTERS

3. PEOPLE AT MEMORIAL CEREMONY

4. PEOPLE STANDING, OBSERVING MOMENT OF SILENCE

5. MAN LOWERING ISRAELI FLAG

6. PEOPLE AT CEREMONY

7. MAN SPEAKING ON STAGE

8. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT CEREMONY

9. WOMAN SPEAKING

10. PEOPLE AT CEREMONY

11. CANDLES LIT ON TABLE

12. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT CEREMONY

13. WOMAN SPEAKING ON STAGE

14. WOMAN WIPING HER TEARS / PEOPLE AT CEREMONY

15. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT CEREMONY