Israel stops to remember the Holocaust

At 0700GMT (1000 local), sirens sounded nationwide. Traffic stopped and motorists stepped out of their vehicles to stand for two minutes in honor of the Holocaust dead.

At Holocaust Remembrance Day last year, with Israel was locked down and families confined to their homes by COVID-19 restrictions, most ceremonies were held online.

This year, family gatherings are permitted again in Israel, where infection rates have dropped dramatically, and assisted living facilities have been welcoming visitors, easing the loneliness of many of the country's survivors, now numbering some 180,000.