Israel's Independence Day is normally a raucous affair, celebrated with day parties and barbecues in parks, but this year, celebrations — from Monday evening through Tuesday — were muted. In the shadow of the war in Gaza and immediately after the country marked an emotional Memorial Day, festivities were smaller and quieter, with far fewer celebrants. Families grappled with their desire to mark Independence Day even as the country is facing a drawn-out war and one of its most difficult tests in decades. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel during Hamas' cross-border raid on Oct. 7, which sparked the war in which more than 35,000 Palestinians have died.

U.S. university presidents have joined Holocaust survivors and thousands of Israelis for a yearly memorial march at the site of Auschwitz. The March of the Living honors the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and celebrates the state of Israel. This year mood of the march was overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war after the Oct. 7 attack on Israelis, the deadliest violence against Jews since Adolf Hitler's regime sought to destroy the entire Jewish population of Europe. A small group of pro-Palestinian protesters waving Palestinian flags stood along the side of the road as participants marched with Israeli flags.