The fate of a planned major pro-Palestine protest in front of the Sydney Opera House will be decided today as an appeals court considers the matter.

The Palestine Action Group has pointed to past concerts held at the site as proof that crowd control measures can be put in place for its event on Sunday.

However, police, Premier Chris Minns, and the Jewish Board of Deputies have all lobbied for the route of the planned rally and march to change, saying it would be unsafe.

A rally organised by a different pro-Palestine group came together in Bankstown in Sydney’s south-west overnight, with more than 100 people attending in a park.

Many spoke against US President Donald Trump’s “peace plan” for the Middle East.

October 7 marks the date Hamas militants surged into Israel, killing about 1200 people and kidnapping about 200 more.

Israel’s response has involved a devastating intensified assault on Gaza which has killed an estimated 67,000 people, with local authorities not differentiating between militant and civilian casualties.

International watchdogs have warned of mass famine in Gaza, and other observers have described Israel’s actions as a genocide.

In the days immediately following Hamas’s attack, pro-Palestine rallies took place around Australia.

One such, near the Opera House, proved particularly controversial, with Jewish groups claiming they had been told not to mourn publicly, and that antisemitic slogans had been called out.

Thousands of people converged on southern Israel overnight to mourn the dead as the nation marked two years since Hamas’ October 7 attack plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas pressed on with indirect peace talks in Egypt.

The main memorial event in Tel Aviv, organised by the bereaved families, was separate from a ceremony that the government will hold on the anniversary next week according to the Hebrew calendar.

The split reflects deep divisions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, which many blame for the failure to secure a ceasefire that would free the remaining hostages held by the militants.

In the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of people and razed entire towns and cities, those who can are fleeing another Israeli invasion of Gaza City while others are sheltering in place.

Many are unable to make the arduous and costly journey south.

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.

Memorial at the scene of a massacre

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.

Thousands of people visited throughout the day to share memories of relatives and friends who were killed, weaving through hundreds of photos encircling the spot where the DJ booth stood.

Many gathered before sunrise, playing the same track of music that was playing two years ago, stopping for a moment of silence at 6.29am – the exact time the attack began.

People embraced and spoke of their loss.

“We don’t need a specific day, because we live this every day anew,” Alon Muskinov, 28, who was at the festival and lost three of his closest friends, said.

Yehuda Rahmani, whose daughter Sharon – a police officer at the festival – was also among those killed, said he visits the Nova site every day.

He drinks his morning coffee next to a photo of his daughter at the last place where she was alive.

To this day, Rahmani keeps hoping he will run into a survivor who could tell him about his daughter’s last moments.

He is angry at the government for not launching an inquiry into security failures of that day.

In Tel Aviv, dozens gathered at a memorial site that was set up in a city square.

Shay Dickmann, whose aunt was killed in Kibbutz Be’eri and whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was taken hostage by Hamas and killed 11 months later, said everyone wants the war to end.

“There is a deal on the table, there is an opportunity to end this war and bring everybody back home,” she said. “We all deserve it.”

Israel’s offensive has displaced around 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of some 2 million, often multiple times, and restrictions on humanitarian aid have contributed to a severe hunger crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

Ghassan Abu Rejeila said the war has stripped Gaza of everything that gives life meaning, whether it’s a family gathering or a decent meal.

“We’ve lost the beautiful moments. Our life has become hell upon hell. Every day, there is killing, strikes, death, martyrdom,” he said.

Maha Shbeir, a doctor at Nasser Hospital, said the last two years have felt like decades.

“I’ve seen cases of children, elderly people, women, cases of amputation, burns, head injuries,” she said.

“I don’t know how we will recover in the future from them, from those scenes that we’ve seen.”