Israeli President Isaac Herzog and dozens of mourners attended a two year memorial ceremony at the site of the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Wednesday.

Nearly 400 Israelis were killed and dozens abducted from the Nova music festival in the border community of Reim.

Over the last two years, it has emerged as a memorial site, with portraits of the kidnapped and the fallen.

"Two years have passed since that dark day when Israel's soul was torn apart and Hamas terrorists unleashed unspeakable evil upon innocent women, men, and children, people from 36 nationalities who were brutally massacred and taken captive. We shall remember them for eternity," Herzog said at the ceremony on Wednesday.

He added that there has been "a terrible wave of antisemitism across the world" since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

It’s been two years since thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets.

They stormed army bases, farming communities and an outdoor music festival, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including women, children and older adults.

They abducted 251 others, most of whom have since been released in ceasefires or other deals. Forty-eight hostages remain inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.

Hamas has said it will release them only in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all of the captives are returned and Hamas has been disarmed.

Herzog thanked U.S. President Donald Trump "for his tireless efforts" to bring back the Israeli hostages.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the deadliest on Israeli soil, sparked one of the most devastating military campaigns since World War II, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, flattening vast areas of the blockaded territory and triggering a famine in parts.

In all, Israel’s campaign has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

More than 40,000 of those wounded have life-altering injuries, according to the World Health Organization.

The death toll does not include the thousands of people believed buried under the rubble.

The ministry — part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals — does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the U.N. and many independent experts.

AP video by Nicolae Dumitrache