ere she feels closest to him.

 I have a video of him dancing here that ends at 6:29 in the morning, it's in front of my eyes all the time,  she said.  Every morning, you wake up and there is just endless missing. 

Hundreds of people came to pay their respects to the more than 350 people killed in and around the festival site.

Ariel Schalit/AP Photo Ariel Schalit/AP Photo

A released hostage marks his first Oct. 7

Elkana Bohbot, 37, is marking the anniversary in Israel for the first time, after being released from 738 days of captivity last year. For most of that time, he said, he was held 165 feet underground in a dark, damp tunnel.

Bohbot, who was abducted from the festival, was kept in a small cell with other hostages, given very little food, and allowed to bathe only every few weeks, he said. His captors forced him to take part in several propaganda videos, including one where he acts out a fake call to his family.

In the 11 months since his release, Bohbot has undergone physical and emotional rehabilitation. In August, his wife, Rivka, gave birth to a daughter, fulfilling a promise that Bohbot made to himself in the tunnels to give his 5-year-old son, Reem, a sibling.

The newborn Michele is  not a symbol for my people, she is more of a symbol for the enemy,  Bohbot told The Associated Press.  So this child is the message for you that we were here, and we will always be here forever. 

Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo

In Gaza, Palestinians struggle to recover

No events are expected on Wednesday in Gaza, where Israel's offensive has devastated the territory and displaced around 90% of its population, often multiple times. Restrictions on the entry of goods and aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says around half were women and children. The numbers from the ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

While a ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued, targeting what Israel says are Hamas militants. Since the ceasefire, 1,460 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the ministry. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period.

Hamas portrayed the Oct. 7 attack as a response to decades of Israeli military occupation, land seizures and settlement construction. But the Palestinians' dream of an independent state appears even more distant.

Video recorded Thursday from the air shows the extent of the destruction in Gaza, nearly 2 years since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The anniversary comes to a radically altered Middle East

A contentious election in Israel at the end of the month hangs over this year's anniversary. The government's official memorial services took place on Oct. 5, closer to the Hebrew calendar's anniversary of the attack.

The separate commemorations reflected deep divisions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his handling of the war and his reluctance to launch an official inquiry into failings of the day.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is hoping to unseat Netanyahu in Israel's upcoming elections, looked at the photos of the dead in Reim and spoke with sobbing family members.

Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the opposition Yashar! party, met with families at a bomb shelter in southern Israel where many were killed as they tried to flee.

The attack set in motion a cascade of events that led to wars across the Middle East as Israel confronted Hamas, Hezbollah and their backer Iran. Israel has seized swaths of territory in Syria and Lebanon, where more than 300,000 Lebanese remain displaced. The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran's military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield.

Violence has also risen across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israel's far-right government has emboldened extremist settlers who have attacked Palestinians and destroyed their property.