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Israel shut down late on Wednesday afternoon for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, nearly two years since the beginning of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The country was on edge as it awaited Hamas’s response to US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal — already accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
In the meantime, the war was set to press on over the fast, with IDF troops carrying out an offensive in Gaza City, and the Navy preparing to intercept the 47-boat Global Sumud Flotilla approaching the Strip with aid.
Israel was also bracing for potential friction in the West Bank, with the military sending reinforcements in the form of combat trainees to various fronts over the Jewish holiday season.
On Monday night, a day before Yom Kippur eve, thousands gathered at the Western Wall for the last night of solemn Selichot prayers, with families of hostages in Gaza in attendance.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Mtan Zangauker, placed a note in the wall asking God for the return of all the captives and the safe return of all soldiers fighting in the Strip.
A photo released by the Israel Defense Forces on October 1, 2025, showing IDF activity in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch read out the names of all the 48 remaining hostages during the service, in which observant Jews traditionally ask God for forgiveness for their sins during the past year.
Despite the ongoing war, much of the country shut down in accordance with traditions.
All flights in and out of Ben Gurion Airport ceased at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The airport will reopen Thursday night, with arrivals starting at 10:00 p.m., while departures will resume an hour later. During this period, Israel’s airspace is also closed to flights passing through.
Border crossings were also shut and were to reopen late Thursday.
Trains stopped operating at 1 p.m. and will only resume on Friday morning, as inner-city buses and inter-city transport also halted their routes starting at 2 p.m. They will gradually restart on Thursday evening.
Empty streets in Tel Aviv, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and the holiest of Jewish holidays, October 12, 2024 (Miriam Alster/Flash 90)
Cars on roads are usually replaced with multitudes of people on bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles. Driving during the Jewish Day of Atonement is considered taboo, and many secular Israelis have turned the day into a biking holiday, taking advantage of the car-free roads.
Yom Kippur is one of the busiest days of the year for emergency calls, with hundreds of extra medics, paramedics, ambulances and volunteers deployed across the country.
Most injuries over Yom Kippur come from accidents on the roads as tens of thousands of children and teens take advantage of the deserted streets to ride their bicycles. Other common Yom Kippur injuries are caused by parents leaving children unattended outside synagogues and, of course, dehydration and complications from fasting.
The Jewish High Holidays have been considered a time of heightened tensions in the West Bank even before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught on Israel that started the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The same period in previous years often saw closures of crossings between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza.
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