October 7: Israel mourns Hamas attack victims as Gaza and Lebanon death tolls rise

A year ago, hundreds of Hamas militants broke out of the besieged Gaza Strip, entering residential areas, a music concert and a kibbutzim, killing 1,200 people—mostly civilians—while more than 200 were abducted as hostages and taken to Gaza to be used as bargaining chips.

This prompted an unprecedented bombing campaign and eventually a ground invasion of Gaza, which has cost the lives of nearly 42,000 Palestinians, led to the destruction of civil infrastructure, including hospitals, and increased the risk of starvation and disease. Civilians are being regularly displaced from one impoverished part of Gaza to another.

A year later, while Gaza is still bombed daily, the conflict is fast escalating into a regional war. It has already led to 2,000 deaths in Lebanon as Israel commenced an intensive bombing campaign against Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned Lebanese political movement and armed militia. Since October 7, Hezbollah has engaged Israeli troops along the northern border, prompting the displacement of 90,000 Israeli citizens.

Tensions escalated further after Israel decapitated the leadership of both Hamas—whose political leader, Ismail Haniyeh,, was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran—and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an aerial bombardment of Beirut. Hezbollah has been further weakened by a series of pager and walkie talkie attacks aimed at undermining its chain of command. In response, Iran launched a ballistic missile strike, which left no casualties, but has brought the region closer to a full-blown war as Israel is soon expected to retaliate.

And while Israel has eliminated the leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah, its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, remains in power in alliance with far-right parties, despite criticism for his government’s failure to prevent the October 7 attacks and for undermining ceasefire talks aimed at securing the freedom of hostages still in captivity. For this reason, a number of hostage families are boycotting the official commemoration of the attacks.

Despite the mounting humanitarian disaster in Gaza, the USA, which continues to arm Israel, and a number of Western governments and politicians, have stood firmly in support of Israel. But one year  “of bear hug diplomacy aimed at restraining Israel’s reaction has largely failed as Netanyahu has crossed one red line after another—first by launching a ground invasion of Gaza and then by following a similar path in Lebanon.

While most world leaders have firmly condemned Hamas’ actions on October 7, Israel has also faced the rebuke of international bodies, including the General Assembly of the United Nations.  Malta, which had immediately condemned Hamas, has also repeatedly called for a ceasefire even if it stopped short of asking for international sanctions against Israel.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for the leaders of both Israel and Hamas, while the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel must halt any military offensive in Rafah that could harm civilians. In July, the ICJ issued a historic advisory opinion concluding that Israel's decades-long occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory is unlawful as it violates some of the most fundamental tenets of International Humanitarian Law.

But despite growing unease in Western capitals over Netanyahu’s intentions in Lebanon, which on Saturday prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call for a halt to weapon deliveries to Israel, the US has repeatedly rejected such calls by restating its unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.