As Israelis Mourn Two Years Since Oct.7, Houthis Attack Eliat With At Least 4 Drones

Tuesday marks the grim two-year anniversary of the Oct.7 terror attack by Hamas which targeted southern Israel, including the Nova music festival and several Kibbutzim, as well as Israeli military border outposts.

Coinciding with the anniversary and memorials being held across the country, Yemen’s Houthis have been launching drones throughout the day on the southernmost Israeli city of Eliat, on the Red Sea.

“Yet another drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat was shot down by air defenses, the military says,” reports Times of Israel.

The drone was intercepted outside Israeli airspace while it was still inbound, and so there were no public alert sirens activated. “It marks the fourth Houthi drone shot down in the Eilat area within an hour,” the report indicates.

The Houthis have vowed to continue such attacks so long as IDF forces continue their operations in the Gaza Strip, even though urgent peace talks are currently underway in nearby Egypt, based on President Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to join the talks Wednesday, which are happening ‘indirectly’ between the Israeli and Hamas sides. Hamas has said it is ready to release all remaining 48 hostages (dead and alive) – but significant hurdles remain over an array of conditions.

Meanwhile, at a moment of national mourning in Israel, hostage victims’ family members are still looking for answers as to why police and military intervention took so long during the attack of Oct.7

“Where were the rescue forces? Where was the state? How come you were here for hours and no one saved,” the families said in a statement, Kan public broadcaster reported.

“And yet two years later, we still have no answers. All the investigations they have presented to us are rubbing salt in the wounds and sand in the eyes of the families,” they said.

This was taken at 8:38am on October 7th. It was apocalyptic. And at this moment we didn’t understand the scale of the attack. It took time to understand that Hamas had infiltrated the entire border. pic.twitter.com/EX8hCf1Wml

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2025

Various political leaders in the West offered their condolences marking the day, including US Vice President JD Vance, who stated on X, “On this second anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks of October 7, we remember all of the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas.”

“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 wrote further.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) had killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on that day two years ago. The brazen and well-planned attack even featured paragliders flying into the Nova festival grounds, where a massacre ensued in what some eyewitnesses said felt “apocalyptic”. Later analysis indicated that some Israelis may have been killed by ‘friendly fire’ during the chaotic Israeli military response, which included deployment of helicopters and tanks.

Eerie footage. This is the moment Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel on paragliders Saturday morning. pic.twitter.com/sThsSInzas

— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 11, 2023

Israel’s military response in Gaza has itself been brutal and overwhelming. Well over 60,000 people have died, including many tens of thousands of civilian men, women, and children. But Israel says a significant bulk of this figure is Hamas militants. Wars on other fronts have since raged – including in Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Yemen – with the whole geopolitical landscape having shifted dramatically since Oct.7.