69. Hopes overshadow the anniversary
Yesterday, it was the second anniversary of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault on southern Israel.
The attack was the most brutal in Israel’s history, shattering the country’s sense of safety.
At the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 370 people were killed and dozens taken hostage, relatives returned at dawn to mourn the dead. There was a minute’s silence at 6:29 am, exactly when Hamas launched its attack.
The memory of the collective trauma of the attack still looms large across the country.
The faces of hostages still held in Gaza are plastered around the country, and homes that were lit on fire by militants as they marauded through kibbutzim stand charred and abandoned.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protests were held worldwide to mark the anniversary.
The Gaza health ministry reports that more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and approximately 170,000 wounded. Daily, there are reports of deaths caused by starvation, and famine conditions are emerging.
But in September, former Israeli army commander Herzi Halevi stated that over 200,000 Palestinians had been killed or injured in the Gaza war, emphasizing that this is a brutal conflict with no rules from the start.
Thousands of people have simply disappeared – lost, incinerated, or blown apart by explosions, or held in secret detention by Israel.
Most Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced several times and have lost many in their family. Entire families have been wiped out in a single airstrike.
Entire cities have been reduced to dust and broken concrete.
Approximately 95% of Palestinians are displaced, and 92% of homes are damaged. Over 1,700 health workers have been killed, and 745,000 students in Gaza cannot attend school, including 88,000 higher education students who have had their studies interrupted.
Witnesses describe it as hell on earth.
I believe the responsibility for the prolonged conflict rests with America, just as it does for the Ukraine-Russia war.
Andrew Miller, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, stated recently, “We did not act like a superpower. Instead of beginning from the proposition that these were problems we could solve, we persuaded ourselves that there was little we could do to move our regional ally, Israel.”
No one can express the American point of view more articulately.
It's positive that Donald Trump has committed to ending the war with good intentions. He has warned Hamas that it will face complete destruction if the deal fails to materialize.
In Tel Aviv, families are demanding that Netanyahu agree to Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.
The anniversary is overshadowed by hopes that the Gaza war may soon end, as Hamas and Israeli negotiators have gathered in Egypt.
Discussions include releasing all hostages held in Gaza, returning nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and the initial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
In Gaza, it seems most Palestinians on the ground have resigned themselves to their fate.
They are waiting with bated breath to see if a ceasefire materialises.
Unfortunately, despite the global hope for an end to this, strikes in Gaza persist.