Two years ago today, Hamas militants led a massacre in Israel. They swarmed Israeli communities, took about 250 hostages, killed some 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and set off a war that has led to the destruction of Gaza, the death of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the isolation of Israel.
Businesses across the country were shut down for the Jewish festival of Sukkot, and official remembrances won’t be held until after the High Holiday season is over. But quiet recognition of today’s anniversary was everywhere.
Hundreds of Israelis came to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and silently meditated over memorials. Runners circled the city of Rehovot, calling for the return of hostages. Others gathered at some of the kibbutzim near Gaza that suffered the most.
However, a moment of silence in kibbutz Kfar Aza was anything but. The sound of helicopters and drones overhead was a reminder that the war was not over.
Many Israelis and Palestinians hope that President Trump’s proposal to end the war could soon bring a halt to fighting and a return of hostages. The White House signaled optimism as Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were set to join peace talks in Egypt.
For more on the war: We tried to reach the more than 700 Gazans that we’ve interviewed over the past two years. Here is what they said.
Profile: A photo of Emily Damari, following her release by Hamas after nearly 500 days as a hostage, became iconic. We talked to her about her captivity and rehabilitation.
Justices seemed skeptical of a ban on conversion therapy
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared poised to reject a Colorado law barring mental health professionals from seeking to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The central question for the justices is whether the ban on conversion therapy is a legal regulation on professional conduct or an impermissible violation of speech. The court’s ruling on the case, which is expected in June, will have implications for the more than 20 other states with bans on the practice, sometimes known as “conversion therapy.”
During oral arguments today, the justices heard a challenge from a Christian therapist who said the ban violated her free speech rights. Lawyers for the therapist and the Trump administration said there were no studies indicating that conversion therapy causes harm. Pushing back, a lawyer for Colorado said there was a “mountain of evidence” that the therapy is ineffective and harmful.
Background: Since at least a decade ago, a rare consensus prevailed against conversion therapy for gay teenagers, but the national focus on transgender identities reignited the issue.
Trump said some furloughed workers might not get back pay
As the government shutdown continued for a seventh day, Trump signaled that some federal workers might not automatically receive back pay for the paychecks they miss while the government is closed.
The president’s comments, which contradicted the administration’s own guidance, echoed a draft memo that has circulated at the White House. In it, the administration suggested that the law requiring the payment of back pay — passed after the five-week 2018 shutdown and signed by Trump — applied only to workers who are deemed essential.
In other Trump administration news: During a combative Senate hearing, Attorney General Pam Bondi stonewalled Democrats and went on the attack.
Scientists believe pets could be vital health watchdogs
We know relatively little about how pollution affects our animal companions. Scientists say that’s a missed opportunity.
Dogs and cats live close to the ground, typically drink tap water and reach old age much quicker than humans. Those factors — plus our attention to our pets’ health — make them a great avenue for measuring environmental toxins.
For more: We have tips for protecting your pets from pollution.
More top news
Troops: National Guard troops from Texas assembled on the outskirts of Chicago as state and local officials tried to prevent their deployment.
Trade: The E.U. proposed increasing steel tariffs to 50 percent to counteract global overcapacity and Chinese imports.
Science: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to researchers who showed that quantum mechanics could be observed in a system “big enough to get one’s grubby fingers on.”
Vaccines: Children under 12 need different versions of Covid vaccines, but the decisions of agencies under the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have made them hard to find.
North Carolina: A private park, Valor Memorial, is dedicated to resurrecting Confederate statues that municipalities removed from public view.
Health: Doug Whitney’s rare genetic mutation was supposed to give him Alzheimer’s in his 50s. At 76, he doesn’t have it, and scientists are studying him for clues to the disease.
Tech: Recruiters are using A.I. to scan résumés. Job candidates have responded with tricks to move their applications to the top of the pile.
TIME TO UNWIND
The National Book Awards announced the finalists
This year’s National Book Award shortlists, which were announced this morning, include two novels exploring the connection between gay men and their mothers, a poetry collection about the author’s recovery from a stroke and the latest entry in a translated series about a book dealer reliving the same day again and again.
Check out all 25 of this year’s finalists, which span fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature and young people’s literature. The winners will be announced next month.
This is not your grandmother’s Chanel
Paris Fashion Week ended with a bang: The designer Matthieu Blazy unveiled his first collection for Chanel and effectively brought the brand back to life.
The Chanel clichés were out, but the brand’s staples remained — albeit with experiments. Blazy’s looks were tasteful and irreverent, wearable and fun, seemingly ushering in a new era of Chanel as Karl Lagerfeld did decades ago.
Dinner table topics
Revel in failure: Clowning has become a prestige form of entertainment.
Ready for business: A record 4,557 restaurant permit applications were filed in New York in 2024. For a year, we followed a first-time owner risking it all.
Smoked fish czar: Saul Zabar, who died today at 97, turned his parents’ appetizing family store into an institution synonymous with New York.
Ask our Well desk: My sense of taste is dulling as I age. Can I stop it?
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
Cook: These beef chops are golden and crisp on the outside, soft and savory within.
Watch: A new documentary shows Ozzy Osbourne’s awe-inspiring efforts to make one final onstage appearance.
Plan: Taiwan’s east coast is an underrated gem for nature lovers.
Wear: Take inspiration from our fashion photographer’s look of the week.
Fib: Lying is an anti-aging supplement for the masses, our writer suggests.
Save: Wirecutter scoured thousands of Prime Day “deals” to find the ones that are actually worth your time.
Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
ONE LAST THING
The best kind of vacation interruption
Fred Ramsdell was nearing the end of a three-week camping trip through the mountain ranges of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana when he heard his wife scream. He first thought that maybe she had seen a grizzly bear. Instead, his wife had good news: “You just won the Nobel Prize!” she yelled.
Ramsdell didn’t believe it at first, but many hours earlier, the Nobel committee had awarded him and his collaborators the 2025 prize for medicine for their immune-system research. He hadn’t received any of the congratulatory calls and texts because he prefers to keep his phone on airplane mode while on vacation. Winning the prize “never crossed my mind,” he said.
Have a thrilling evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
Philip Pacheco was our photo editor.
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.