Katya Emelianova kneels beside a portrait of Eden Gez, who was killed at the Nova Festival by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (The New York Times)

Israel marked the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack that began its longest war in subdued fashion Tuesday, with new hopes of ending the conflict but with hostages still in captivity and its exhausted military adding to the death toll of Palestinians and to the destruction in the Gaza Strip.

The arrival of the Jewish harvest festival, Sukkot, a national and religious holiday, shut down most businesses across Israel for the day. The government delayed official remembrances of the war’s traumatic first day until Oct. 16, after the High Holiday season.

But Tuesday’s milestone was inescapable.

There were quiet

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