Leaders from around the world on Tuesday issued statements marking two years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

While most leaders’ statements sharply condemned Hamas, the brutal violence of the onslaught and the rise in global antisemitism in the two years since, several prominent politicians used the anniversary of the attacks to slam Israel and criticize its conduct in the subsequent war.

Early Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the two years since the attacks have been a “living nightmare” for many.

“Today we mark two years since the horrifying attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7th, 2023…. The worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Starmer said in a statement.

“Since that awful day, so many have endured a living nightmare,” he said, vowing to continue efforts to bring home British hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Starmer noted the period has seen surging antisemitism in the UK, days after two Jewish men were killed in a terror attack against a Manchester synagogue.

“Jewish communities have also endured rising antisemitism on our streets,” he said, including the deadly car-ramming and stabbing attack last Thursday in Manchester, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

“This is a stain on who we are, and this country will always stand tall and united against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities,” said the British leader.

French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to mark the anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks, with a statement he shared in French, English, and Hebrew: “October 7. Two years after the unspeakable horror of the Hamas terrorism, the pain remains raw,” he wrote. “We do not forget.”

“We think of all the victims, including 51 of our compatriots,” he continued. We think of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas. We work tirelessly for their return.”

“I reiterate France’s call: the hostages must be freed and the ceasefire must take place without delay,” Macron said.

“We share the grief of the bereaved families as well as the anguish of those who are still waiting,” he added. “Such an abomination must never happen again. Let us unite all our forces to fight antisemitism everywhere and build peace.”

In a video statement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the attacks “inflicted deep wounds,” and October 7 has “gone down as a black day in the history of the Jewish people.”

“Hamas attacked Israel in a barbaric manner,” he said. “Well over a thousand citizens of Israel lost their lives.”

“The terrorists abducted 250 people as hostages,” he continued, adding that they included some German nationals. “They have suffered unimaginably.”

Merz also said that in the two years since the attacks, “we have seen a new wave of antisemitism in Germany.”

“This fills me with shame as Federal Chancellor, as a German, and as a member of the post-war generation that grew up with the promise: Never Again,” he said.

“Let’s stand with the Jewish people of our country,” he said. “Today, on the two-year mark of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel, and on each and every other day.”

EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen also paid tribute to the victims of the October 7 massacre and expressed hope for a lasting peace in the region.

“We will never forget the horror of the Hamas attacks on 7 October and the pain they caused to innocent victims, their families and the entire people of Israel, two years ago,” she said in a statement.

“We honor their memory by working tirelessly for peace. The immediate release of all hostages and a ceasefire are now within reach… This moment must be seized to pave the way for a lasting peace in the region, based on the two-state solution,” she said.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “Two years have passed since the ignominy of the massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists against thousands of defenseless and innocent Israeli civilians, including women and children. Unspeakable crimes that make October 7 one of the darkest pages in history.”

“Hamas’s violence has triggered an unprecedented crisis in the Middle East. Israel’s military response has gone beyond any principle of proportionality, claiming too many innocent lives among Gaza’s civilian population,” she added.

“We all have a duty to do everything within our power to ensure that this precious and fragile opportunity — the peace plan presented by [US] President [Donald] Trump — succeeds,” she wrote.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on X: “Today we pause to honor the victims of terror. We stand firmly against hatred and violence. As talks advance under the @POTUS plan, we urge all parties to act with courage and restraint: toward a lasting ceasefire, release of all hostages and a future of peace and security for all.”

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson lamented that since October 7, “Jews in Sweden have testified that they feel unsafe in their own country.”

“My message is: There is no place for antisemitism in Sweden,” he wrote.
“Jews in Sweden should be able to proudly wear the Star of David, visit the synagogue, and leave their children in Jewish schools. All Swedish Jews should know that we stand behind you.”

Also marking the two-year anniversary of the attacks on Israel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sayid Washington “reaffirms its unwavering support for Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, and to ensure the safety of its people.”

“As the United States marks this tragic anniversary and honors the victims, we renew our resolve to prevent such evil from ever taking place again,” Rubio said.

The top US diplomat highlighted the two US citizens — Omer Neutra and Itay Chen — who are among the 48 hostages still being held in Gaza and touted US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and advance “generational” peace in the region.

“Since October 7, 2023, we have also witnessed a troubling surge in antisemitism threatening Jewish communities worldwide,” Rubio noted.

“As I have said, there can be no compromise with antisemitism. We continue to condemn all acts of terrorism and antisemitism against Israel, and we call on the international community to stand with Israel during this painful anniversary,” he added.

“On this second anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks of October 7, we remember all of the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas,” US Vice President JD Vance tweeted.

“And we continue to work towards President [Donald] Trump’s plan to bring the remaining hostages home and build a lasting peace for all,” he said.

While Trump himself did not release a statement about the anniversary of October 7, he told hostage families that he’s praying Gaza war will end soon “or else,” in a letter published Tuesday, which thanked the Hostages and Missing Families Forum for nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize. Since the October 7, 2023, massacre, Trump said he has “been resolved to returning all the hostages home, and ensuring the total destruction of Hamas so these horrific acts may never be repeated.”

“These unspeakable scenes have been seared into our memories, and we will never forget,” he added.

“Please know that we remain steadfastly committed to seeing an end both to this conflict and the waves of antisemitism, both at home and abroad,” the letter read.

He continued: “May god bless you and your loved ones, and may He continue to bless the United States of America and the State of Israel, as we pray that this conflict will be at an end in the coming days — or else.”

The Democratic Party’s New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani used the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks to accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of launching a “genocidal war.”

Mamdani called Hamas’s October 7 assault “a horrific war crime,” adding, “I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities.”

“In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war: a death toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble,” his statement read, using the unverified death toll provided by the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Mamdani called for the “occupation and apartheid” to end, adding that, “Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.”

Also using the anniversary as an opportunity to slam Israel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned “terrorism in all its forms” in his statement, and urged an end to “the genocide” in Gaza.

Sanchez, one of the most vocal critics in Europe of Israel’s war in Gaza, decried the “terrible attacks” carried out by Hamas.

“It is a day to reiterate our strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms, to call for the immediate release of the Israeli hostages,” the Spanish leader wrote on X.

“And to demand that Netanyahu stop the genocide of the Palestinian people and open a humanitarian corridor,” he added.

Sanchez also declared that the two-state solution was the “only possible” way to end the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict.