Two years on from the 7 October attacks, former hostage Eli Sharabi articulated the hopes of millions when he said he was “holding his breath" for the return of the remaining hostages.

Memorial events have been held across Israel, culminating in two massive gatherings in Tel Aviv which have attracted thousands.

This anniversary takes place against the backdrop of Israel-Hamas talks in Egypt, which are continuing this evening. Donald Trump's negotiator Steve Witkoff is on his way to join those negotiations, BBC News understands.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza have been reflecting on two years of conflict, during which more than 67,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Amal, who had a baby boy on 7 October 2023, says her family's "life turned upside down on that day". Khaled Hamad says they hope a deal is reached to "stop this bloodshed... so we can get our lives from before 7 October back".

We're pausing our live coverage for the time being but there is more to read elsewhere on the BBC News website:

• Israelis mark 7 October anniversary as talks on Gaza peace plan continue
• Jeremy Bowen: Two years on, will Israel and Hamas seize the chance to end the war?
• What are the key sticking points in Trump's Gaza peace plan?

Image source, Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a statement reflecting on the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks.

The Israeli government has delayed official memorials until 16 October - after the end of the Jewish High Holiday season - though events still took place across the country on Tuesday.

In the statement, he speaks of "immense pain", and says he feels "great pride in out state's remarkable resilience".

He continues: "Together, we broke the Iranian axis; together, we changed the face of the Middle East; together, we will ensure the eternity of Israel."

As peace talks continue in Egypt, he says "we are in fateful days of decision" and repeats his familiar conditions for ending the war: securing the release of all hostages, the end of Hamas rule in Gaza and the "assurance that Gaze will no longer pose a threat to Israel".

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Tel Aviv

Thousands of people have now gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, watching a live broadcast of the memorial ceremony on a big screen.

The crowd here are united in the call for the return of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

Some are crying and hugging as they watch the broadcast. Chants occasionally break out of “bring them home”.

Sebastian Usher
Middle East analyst

An evening session of talks is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh amid differing accounts of how the negotiations are progressing.

Donald Trump has once again been very upbeat, saying a deal to bring peace to the Middle East is very close.

Qatari mediators have said that many details still need to be considered.

The main Hamas negotiator, Khalil el-Hayya, who only recently survived an assassination attempt by Israel, has said the group doesn't trust Israel for a second - and wants what he's called "real guarantees".

Among Hamas's conditions are a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, as well as the release of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners, such as Marwan Barghouti - demands that Israel has previously rejected.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Crowds are building in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square tonight, with hundreds of people here united in their call for the return of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

Nineteen-year-old Eyal says he backs the peace plan proposed by the US president "100 percent".

"I think it's very important that we bring back the hostages, end the war and seal the deal," he says.

Ari, another man at the square, says it was "very important" for him to come tonight.

"It's incredible that two years have passed... We want our 48 people back," he says.

As people gather, a clock on a big screen shows the number of days the hostages have been held in Gaza and photos of those - living and dead - still held there.

A huge memorial event marking two years since the 7 October attack is now under way in Tel Aviv.

Thousands are watching the event, which began with a moment of silence and will feature a number of performances.

A burnt out vehicle recovered from the day of the attack is positioned on the stage, which is also adorned with flowers.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Thousands have gathered in Tel Aviv ahead of the Bereaved Families Memorial ceremony this evening.

Our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet is there and has been speaking to organiser Jonathan Shamriz, who says he thinks "the world forgot what the people of Israel have been through".

His brother Alon was taken hostage by Hamas and was one of three mistakenly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

"This war must end, the hostages must come back to their families," he says, adding that he "strongly believes" in Trump's proposed peace plan, and hopes "there is some good news" in the coming days.

While people in Israel have been holding solemn commemorations today to remember the horrors of 7 October, the war in Gaza has continued.

BBC News has been speaking to Amal, a Gazan mother who had a baby boy on 7 October 2023. She says today means both pain and hope.

"Our life just turned upside down that day," she says, adding that she will only be optimistic once the ceasefire goes ahead.

"It's not an easy life," she says, but adds that she feels compelled to keep fighting on behalf of her little boys. "I've moved five or seven times since the beginning of the war, but it never felt safe anywhere".

"The war planes are flying over our heads all the time, the drones, the sounds of the gunshots at night... it never stops."

Earlier today, our Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson returned to the site of the Nova music festival, were hundreds were killed on 7 October two years ago today.

You can watch her report below on the memorials being held there and the long aftermath of the attack.

Image source, Getty Images

Israeli President Isaac Herzog vows the government "will not rest" or "be silent" until all the hostages are home in a statement released to mark 7 October.

"From that darkness rose the courage of our soldiers, the heroism of our citizens, and the unity of a people who refused to break," he says.

Herzog says he stands "shoulder to shoulder" with Jewish communities as antisemitism "surges" across the world.

He also thanks Israel's allies for the "many heartfelt messages of solidarity and remembrance".

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Some small pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held around the UK today, despite appeals - including from the prime minister - for protests not to be held on the anniversary of the 7 October attack.

As we have been reporting, Keir Starmer described attending an event today as "un-British" after a number of primarily student-led protests were advertised.

In Glasgow, around 40 people gathered close to the University of Strathclyde, waving Palestinian flags and chanting "free Palestine", and "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

Critics say that slogan is a call for the destruction of the state of Israel, though that is disputed by pro-Palestinian activists, who say it calls for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza.

One person was heard saying: "There is no wrong time to stand for justice. We mourn all loss of life."

In London, a small demonstration was also held by students at the London School of Economics (LSE).

A student at the university, Grace, did not take part in the demonstration, but defended their right to protest, saying "we can’t stand by and say nothing".

Protests were also held in Belfast, Sheffield, Leeds and Edinburgh.

Correction 7 October: This post originally described Grace as having attended the demonstration and has been amended to make clear that she was not part of the protest and her comments were about the right to protest.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Tel Aviv

As we've been reporting, memorials have been held all day in Israel to remember those who were killed in the 7 October attack two years ago.

One was for 19-year-old Roni Eshel, an observer in the Israeli military who has since had a park named after her in northern Israel.

The community gathered solemnly, many of them in tears, listening to tributes.

Among the crowd were people who didn’t know Roni or her family personally, but were moved by her story.

A neighbour said her death still felt like an open wound.

“I don’t have words [for how I feel today],” one relative said.

“It’s a hard day,” community member Judith Miller-Epstein told me, who remembered Roni as “funny and full of life”.

Roni was among the unarmed female observers stationed at the Gaza border who had warned before 7 October 2023 that an attack was coming. Her family are still pushing for answers.

Image source, Getty Images

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is at the White House with Donald Trump, and the two have just spoken to journalists.

Carney says his country "stands four-square behind" Trump's efforts for peace in the Middle East on this "solemn day of commemoration".

Speaking in the Oval Office, he says Canada will do whatever they can to support "this prospect of peace that you’ve made possible".

This followed Trump's comments to reporters that they would also be discussing Gaza as well as trade, and that peace was a "possibility" in the Middle East.

He says there is a "real chance we could do something" - but that, in the meantime, the US and Canada would "make some deals".

You can find out more of what Carney and Trump are discussing in our other live page.

Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

Louis Danker, president of the Union of Jewish Students, is breaking his observance of a religious festival to speak to the BBC today because of the planned protests at universities.

Many Jewish students have been "made afraid to come on to campus", he says, because of the repeated protests.

He adds the union "really welcomes the prime minister's intervention", after Keir Starmer told students not to attend events planned for 7 October.

"It's not about banning activism, it's about the time, the place and manner of protests.

"That is what we're worried about and that is what Jewish students are frightened of."

Hamas says its delegation in Egypt is seeking "to overcome all obstacles to achieving an agreement" as indirect negotiations for a peace deal with Israel continue.

A spokesperson for the group lists its key aspirations from the talks in Sharm El-Sheik as:

• "A permanent and comprehensive ceasefire"
• "Complete withdrawal" of the Israeli army from "all areas of the Gaza strip"
• "Unrestricted entry of humanitarian and relief aid"
• Ensuring that displaced people are able to return to their homes
• The immediate start of a "comprehensive reconstruction process" under the supervision of a "Palestinian national body of technocrats"
• The conclusion of a "fair prisoner exchange deal"

As a reminder, both Hamas and Israel have are involved in the ongoing indirect talks in Egypt - here's five things to know about what's being discussed.

Hamas is a proscribed terror group in the US, UK and EU.

Image source, Getty Images

As evening arrives in the Middle East, here's where things stand as peace negotiations continue.

• A second day of indirect peace talks in Egypt between Hamas and Israeli teams resumed. Trump suggested there is a "really good chance" of a deal after the first day of negotiations
• It's the US president's 20-point plan for peace in Gaza that's currently under discussion - but there are still major sticking points for both sides to resolve
• According to our Gaza correspondent, all sides have now agreed on an agenda for the discussions - we've got more on the five-point framework they'll be following
• So far, Israel has agreed to Trump's proposals, while Hamas has accepted some, but not all, of the conditions
• Diplomats from the US, Qatar and Egypt have been mediating the talks - and US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff is set to join them tomorrow
• Heading the other way, on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in 2023, hostages' families are gathering in Washington DC to urge politicians to maintain momentum towards a peace deal

Stick with us here, and we'll bring you any updates on the talks as we get them.

Image source, APTN

We have a little more on the peace talks happening in Egypt now.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson says the focus of the negotiations is on turning the peace plan for Gaza into a "practical" deal and reaching "concrete agreements."

Speaking to reporters in Doha, Majed al-Ansari says Qatar's role as a meditator between Israel and Gaza was on ensuring the plan would eventually lead to a permanent end to the war.

He adds that both Hamas and Israel should expect some terms that each side will not be happy with, because any plan to reach an agreement will not reflect what either party wants completely.

The parties are presenting their viewpoints, interpretations and understanding of what was stated in the plan, and what it means in practical terms for the Gaza Strip, he says.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Tel Aviv

I’ve arrived in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv where some people have come today to remember 7 October 2023 and show support for those still held in Gaza.

I have just met 29-year-old Hagar, who was sitting under a tree next to a piano belonging to hostage Alon Ohel and crying.

She tells me she spent the day of the 7 October attacks hiding in her safe room at her home in the Zikim kibbutz in southern Israel. Her brother was at the Nova festival and survived the attacks there. Another brother has since been sent to Gaza as a soldier.

“I know people who were kidnapped. I know people who were murdered,” she says.

She tells me she woke with a “strange feeling” today and headed to the beach for a moment of reflection and “to say thank you that I’m alive and my family’s alive” and then felt compelled to come to Hostages Square “just to feel it”.

“It feels like just a second has passed and it feels like 10 years have passed" since the attacks, she says.

Her family have tried several times to return to their kibbutz but then left again, no longer feeling safe there.

“No place feels like home anymore and until all the hostages come back none of us will feel safe,” she tells me.

“When we see everybody home again, we can breathe again. Then we can start to recover.”

In occupied West Bank, Palestinians closely following Gaza peace talkspublished at 16:04 BST 7 October

16:04 BST 7 October

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Ramallah

Palestinians want to establish an independent state in what is today the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The two-state solution has received a boost recently, with recognition of Palestinian statehood by countries including the UK and France.

In Gaza, more than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, most of its two million people have been repeatedly displaced, and much of the territory is in ruins.

In the West Bank, where around three million Palestinians live, Israeli settlements continue to expand – 700,000 Israeli Jews live in the area – destroying the prospect of any viable state.

Last year, the International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion, said the Israeli occupation was illegal and must end. Benjamin Netanyahu has said that there will never be a Palestinian state and, if there is no real pressure from the US, attempts for a long-term solution will go nowhere.

Violence in the West Bank has escalated since 7 October, especially by Jewish settlers, empowered by the anti-Palestinian rhetoric of their government and virtually guaranteed impunity, and often protected by Israeli soldiers.

There has been concern that the unimpeded attacks combined with multiple raids by the Israeli military could lead to an explosion of violence. That has not happened – at least not yet.

Many here are watching the talks in Egypt hoping they will bring an end to the war in Gaza. But they know that, despite President Trump’s claims of permanent peace, it will not end this conflict.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, in Istanbul

A Palestinian official familiar with the Israel-Hamas talks has told the BBC the morning session in Sharm el-Sheikh has concluded and meetings will resume in the evening.

The first round of ceasefire talks between the Palestinian and Israeli delegations in the Egyptian resort city concluded after four hours, with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in attendance.

A new session is scheduled to begin at 19:00 local time (17:00 BST), with discussions on five key issues planned.

They are: ending the war; the exchange of Israeli hostages with Palestinian prisoners and detainees; the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; arrangements for humanitarian aid; and post-war administration.

Correction 23 October: This post has been amended to refer to Palestinian detainees rather than “Palestinian hostages”.