October 7 attack one year on: ‘We’re nowhere near any kind of resolution’
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One year on from the deadliest day in Israel’s history and the beginning of a wider conflict in the Middle East, will a resolution ever be in sight?
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In brief…
- Vigils and protests have been held across the world to mark the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
- World leaders in the West have paid tribute to those who have been killed in the conflict, urging peace amid the tens of thousands of casualties sparked by wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
- The News Agents say it is difficult to imagine an end in sight as things escalate further.
What’s the story?
It has been one year since Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
That day, around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage, and a year later, 97 civilians remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
The attack sparked a bloody war in Gaza, with almost 42,000 people killed by Israel’s following offensive so far, the vast majority civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
One year on, it is difficult to imagine an end in sight as the fighting spills over into Lebanon and fears of an all-out regional war grow.
Lewis says: “What is scary about this conflict, or where we are now a year on, is that not only does it feel like we're nowhere near any kind of resolution, it feels like we're further away from it than ever, with escalation in every direction to more and more countries.”
What’s happening now?
Vigils, memorials and protests are being held around the world on the anniversary of the attack.
Muslim and Jewish leaders came together in a joint statement calling the assaults on Israel on 7 October last year “brutal Hamas terrorist attacks” which sparked a “devastating war in Gaza and beyond”.
In Israel, President Isaac Herzog kicked off the commemorations with a moment of silence at 6:29am.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lit candles at Jerusalem's Swords of Iron memorial in commemoration of the hostages.
He said: "We remember our fallen, our hostages that we are obliged to return."
Keir Starmer has called for unity in Britain and urged the country to “unequivocally stand with the Jewish community”.
Joe Biden has said the US will “never give up” its defence of Israel “until we bring all of the remaining hostages home safely”.
He added: “I believe that history will also remember October 7th as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day.
“Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict.”
Dozens of pro-Palestine marches have also been taking place across the globe.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets from London to Washington DC on Saturday demanding ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
What’s The News Agents take?
Speaking of the horrors of Hamas’ 7 October attack, Jon says: “It was the biggest death of Jews in a single day since the industrialised murder of Jews during the Holocaust by the Nazis.
“But this was nothing industrialised. This was brutal and savage, and it was an extraordinary event that unfolded.”
He adds that it was “intolerable for Israel to be attacked like that, and it invariably had to respond.”
But that response has also “given rise to even more violence, even more deaths, more civilian casualties and widespread destruction.”
And that is partially why it is difficult to imagine how this all ends.
Jon adds: “No one is talking about what the political settlement looks like at the end of all of this.
“And that bit of the conversation is extraordinary because peace is going to come about through politicians, not at the barrel of a gun, because historically, that has always been the case.”
Lewis agrees that the violence does not appear to be stopping any time soon.
He says: “Israeli leaders are continuing to say that ‘we will destroy all of our enemies’. But of course, we all know that can never truly happen.”
That’s because, Lewis says, you can never really “destroy every single one of your enemies”, as Netanyahu has vowed to do when justifying attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
And even if you do, he argues, Israel has shown over the last year that it is still a military powerhouse and you “have to keep doing that fight every single generation.”
“Likewise, you know what Hamas' reaction was today?” Lewis asks.
“They said that they're looking forward to doing October the 7th all over again.
“And so one despairs, because you can see that despite it all and all the numbers we were just talking about, we're no further forward.”
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