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Israel Marks 500 Days Since Oct. 7 Attack With Fasts, Rallies Amid News of Early Release of Four Hostage Bodies
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
Israelis on Monday held rallies, blocked roads, and observed a fast to mark 500 days since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded southern Israel, massacred 1,200 people, and abducted 251 hostages into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
The grim milestone coincided with reports that the bodies of four deceased hostages would be returned on Thursday, two days earlier than the next expected round of captive releases, slated for Saturday.
Hostage families and supporters gathered in major cities. In Tel Aviv, demonstrators blocked Namir Road, holding banners demanding the immediate return of those still held captive. Others gathered outside the Hostages and Missing Families Forum tent in central Jerusalem before marching to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, where relatives of the hostages pleaded for urgent action. A 500-minute fast, symbolizing the 500 days in captivity, began at 11:40 am and concluded at 8 pm with a rally in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, attended by thousands.
Israelis on Feb. 17, 2025, marking 500 days since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Photo: Paulina Patimer
In a screened video message at the rally, Iair Horn made his first public statement since being released on Saturday after 498 days in Hamas captivity. “We’re out of time. We must return them now,” he said.
Horn broke down in tears as he mentioned his brother Eitan, who remains in captivity and is not pegged for release until the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal. “Bring back my brother and all of the hostages.”
On Thursday, Israel is set to receive the remains of four hostages, with their identities expected to be revealed that morning. Israel’s KAN public broadcaster cited Israeli officials as saying that preparations were underway for their bodies to be identified and processed at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv. The four hostages were believed to have been killed in captivity, though the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear.
On Saturday, Hamas will release three living hostages, followed by the return of four more bodies next Thursday, Feb. 27. In exchange for the bodies, Israel will release all women and minors under 19 who were arrested in Gaza since the Oct 7 onslaught.
Between Feb. 22 and March 2, Hamas is also scheduled to free the final three living hostages from the first, six-week phase of the ceasefire deal, including Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, who have been held in Gaza for over a decade.
Hamas is believed to be holding the bodies of at least 36 people, out of a total of 70, including soldiers and civilians killed on Oct. 7 and others who died in captivity.
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami, who was released earlier this month appearing severely malnourished, urged mass participation in the demonstrations. “What kept me going was knowing people were fighting for me,” he said.
Levi Ben-Baruch, whose nephew Edan Alexander remains in captivity, recited the words of Jewish fast-day prayers — “Please save us!” — as he joined others in fasting. “We fast for 500 minutes,” he said, “but they have already fasted for 500 days.”
Jimmy Miller, cousin of Shiri Bibas. Photo: Lior Rotstein
At Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities devastated in the Oct. 7 attack, residents held a gathering in memory of those taken hostage from their community and killed in Gaza. Nira Sharabi, whose husband Yossi Sharabi was killed in captivity, said that while the focus remained on bringing home the living, Israel also had an obligation to return the bodies of those who had not survived. “Until they are buried here, we can’t say goodbye,” she said.
Nira’s brother-in-law, Eli Sharabi, who was also released this month, only discovered after his release that his wife and two daughters were murdered in their home on Oct. 7.
Maccabit Mayer, whose relatives Ziv and Gali Berman are among the hostages, said each day felt like an eternity. “Day 500 is just like every other day,” she said. “Except that it’s one day longer.”
“I too want to begin the journey of rehabilitation and healing like all those who have returned from there,” she added.
Shay Dickmann, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was killed by Hamas terrorists while in captivity, recounted how his grandmother languished during the Holocaust after all her family members had perished, and “waited for the world’s nations to decide when she would be freed.”
“She survived and immigrated to Israel, helping build a country so she would never have to wait again. And today, for 500 days, our people are waiting. We cannot let them wait for the world’s nations to decide if they will survive or be murdered,” Dickmann said.
The post Israel Marks 500 Days Since Oct. 7 Attack With Fasts, Rallies Amid News of Early Release of Four Hostage Bodies first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.