Listen: Two years since 7 October - Fragile Gaza peace talks continue

This Tuesday marks two years since Hamas carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history, when militants entered the Nova music festival, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.

Since then, many captives have been released in deals or ceasefires, but around 48 hostages remain in Gaza. Israel believes about 20 of them are still alive. Negotiations for their release, and for Trump’s Gaza peace plan, started this week and are continuing in a “positive” atmosphere aimed at reaching a ceasefire.

In these two years, Israel’s retaliatory offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s roughly two million people. Entire neighbourhoods have been razed, humanitarian aid has been severely restricted, and famine is widespread.

Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.

EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Long Story Short” hosted by Evi Kiorri. The podcast is available on all major platforms.

You can find the transcript here if you prefer reading:

Today it’s two years since Hamas carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history, when militants entered the Nova music festival, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Since then, many captives have been released in deals or ceasefires, but around 48 hostages remain in Gaza.

Israel believes about 20 of them are still alive. Negotiations for their release, and for Trump’s Gaza peace plan, started on Monday and are continuing in a “positive” atmosphere aimed at reaching a ceasefire.

In these two years, the war has widened. Israel’s retaliatory offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s roughly two million people. Entire neighbourhoods have been razed, humanitarian aid has been severely restricted, and famine is widespread. The United Nations has published investigations concluding that Israel’s actions amount to genocide, something that Israel rejects, saying it is acting in lawful self-defence and blaming Hamas for embedding its fighters among civilians.

Inside Israel, the failure to bring all hostages home has inflamed deep divisions. Families of the hostages have organised mass protests and openly criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership. In the same spirit some memorials this week were organised by families separately from the state’s official ceremony, showing sharp signs of political rifts.

On the diplomatic front, indirect talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Egypt this week around a US proposed ceasefire plan, with mediators from the US, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey present. Reports from the first day described a “positive atmosphere,” but key sticking points remain like the sequencing and guarantees of troop withdrawals, disarmament, and who will govern Gaza afterwards.

Now, the war has reshaped regional security and global foreign policy. It has drawn in Iran-backed proxies, risked wider confrontations with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and complicated relations between European governments and their partners. For Europe, the humanitarian responsibility is real: millions of displaced civilians, collapsing healthcare, and hunger in Gaza demand a response, morally and politically. But for now, European leaders have frozen negotiations on possible sanctions against Israel.

Domestically, the conflict has deepened polarisation both inside Israel and across European societies. Protest movements, calls for sanctions, and debates over arms sales have forced EU capitals to take clear political and moral positions. Which matters because the credibility of global and European leaders on human rights and international law is at stake. And with the hostage crisis unresolved and no durable political solution in sight, the security shockwaves will continue to ripple. Short-term military gains will not stabilise the region if neither side sees a viable future.

What’s next?

Right now, negotiators in Sharm el-Sheikh are trying to turn a fragile, US proposed roadmap into reality, one that includes an exchange of prisoners and captives, a ceasefire, and phased withdrawals. The positive tone on day one is welcomed, but the outcome is what matters. Key questions remain: who will verify any withdrawal? Will Gaza’s future governance be acceptable to Palestinians and regional states? And will the release of hostages be lasting, or just another pause before renewed violence?

Two years on, the human toll is vast and the political landscape so fractured. If the current negotiations lead to a genuine, verified ceasefire and a credible path for Gaza’s governance and reconstruction, that would be a rare piece of good news. If they fail, the alternative the region faces is more of the same: war, displacement, anger, and instability.