Is there an ending in sight?
Two years ago today, we awoke to the devastating news: Israel had been attacked by the forces of Hamas. Backed by Iran, Hamas terrorists descended on an innocent, unsuspecting Israeli civilian population. Terrorists attacked men, women, young people, children, families, and the elderly.
Hamas terrorists tore babies from their mothers’ arms, killed family members in front of each other. They took hostages. Hamas raped, tortured, murdered, kidnapped, and terrorized innocent Israeli citizens.
Many Hamas “soldiers” gleefully filmed their crimes against humanity, live-streaming atrocities for all the world to see.
The long-simmering war between the two opposing forces of Israel and Hamas (Iran) blazed into terrible new life.
Many world leaders marked the terrible anniversary with statements of respectful solidarity.
“Two years after the unspeakable horror of Hamas terrorism, the pain remains deep,” wrote French President Emmanuel Macron in a statement posted to X. “We do not forget. We stand in solidarity with all the victims, including 51 of our fellow citizens. I reiterate France’s call: the release of all hostages and a ceasefire must take place without delay.”
“Antisemitism in Germany is shameful. Now and always,” posted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “Let’s stand with the Jewish people of our country — today, on the two-year mark of Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel, and on each and every other day.”
“Today we mark two years since the horrifying attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7th 2023. Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day,” said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “The worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The brutal, cold blooded torture and murder of Jews in their own homes. And the taking of hostages, including British citizens, some of whom remain in Gaza today.”
“Since that awful day, so many have endured a living nightmare,” Starmer remarked. “When I spoke with some of the families of the British hostages, I promised them in person that we will not cease in our efforts to bring their loved ones home.”
“Our priority in the Middle East remains the same — release the hostages,” demanded PM Starmer. “Surge aid into Gaza. And a ceasefire that can lead to a lasting and just peace as a step towards a Two-State solution. A safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable Palestinian state. We welcome the US initiative towards peace in the Middle East, and this government will do everything in our power to bring about the day where every child of Israel can live peacefully, alongside their Palestinian neighbours, in safety and security.”
“Two years have passed since the ignominy of the massacre committed by Hamas terrorists against (more than) a thousand defenceless, innocent Israeli civilians, including women and children,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “Unspeakable crimes that make October 7th one of the darkest pages in history. Today we renew our closeness to the families of the victims and once again call for the release of the hostages, who are still waiting to return home after two years of captivity, harassment, and suffering”.
“We will never forget the horror of the Hamas attacks on 7 October and the pain they caused to innocent victims, their families and the entire people of Israel, two years ago,” EU President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “We honor their memory by working tirelessly for peace. The immediate release of all hostages and a ceasefire are now within reach. This opportunity must not be lost.”
Two weeks ago, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan designed to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conditionally approved the plan, pending its approval by Hamas leadership. While the proposal received high marks from world leaders aplenty, including Israel’s Middle Eastern neighbors, Hamas missed the original Sunday deadline proposed by President Trump.
Hope remains for a peace deal, however.
For his part, U.S. President Donald Trump marked the day by meeting with one of the hostages freed by Hamas. Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American, endured nearly 20 months at the hands of his Hamas captors and their network of enablers.
Israel’s people are marking the sad occasion in a variety of ways.
“Two years on, Israeli society must not allow itself to forget the reckoning of Oct. 7,” wrote the editorial board of The Jerusalem Post. “The October 7 massacre forced Israeli society to confront an existential threat it had tried to avoid.”
“Tuesday marks two years since October 7, yet time has done little to dull the horror or utter unfathomability of what happened on that dreadful day,” they wrote passionately. “The questions that arose immediately — how Israel could have been so wrong about Gaza, how it left itself so unprepared, how it was caught so completely by surprise — still hang in the air.”
“Israel cannot afford to slide back into the habits that preceded October 7 — the wishful thinking and the belief that threats can be managed rather than defeated,” advised the JP. “The war’s end, when it comes, must not signal a return to false comfort but a new vigilance grounded in clarity: our enemies are implacable, security depends on readiness, and actual deterrence comes only from unmistakable strength and the willingness to use it.”
“October 7 was a national trauma, but also a reckoning,” they added. “It stripped away illusions and forced the country to confront truths it had tried to avoid. Two years later, as Israel stands on the cusp of what could be an end to the fighting, the real measure of recovery will not be the rebuilt and reinvigorated towns and kibbutzim around the Gaza border, but whether those truths endure.”
(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)