On the morning of October 7, 2023, life in Israel changed forever. Families in sleepy kibbutzim awoke to sirens, music-lovers at a festival were forced to flee, and entire towns were attacked in a matter of hours. Hamas militants crossed into Israel, killed more than 1,200 people, and dragged others back into Gaza as hostages. The scale of the violence stunned the country and scarred a generation.
For Israel, that day was not just a security failure. It was a wound, one that has shaped every decision since. What followed was an Israeli response that many abroad viewed as overwhelming, but which Israelis themselves often describe as necessary for survival.
The Israeli Response
In the days after the massacre, the Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron. Airstrikes and artillery fire pounded Gaza, targeting rocket sites, Hamas strongholds, and a sprawling tunnel network beneath the territory. Ground troops moved in, street by street, fighting in some of the most densely packed neighbourhoods in the world.
The destruction has been immense. By the UN’s estimate, Gaza now lies beneath more than 50 million tonnes of rubble. Nearly every building bears scars of war. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been reported dead, numbers that include both militants and civilians.
Israel, though, insists that the war was not about punishing Gaza’s people but dismantling Hamas’s war machine. Officials argue that Hamas deliberately operated from homes, schools, and hospitals, forcing civilians to live amid military targets. “No state can accept its citizens being slaughtered in their beds,” one Israeli official said recently. “We had no choice but to act.”
A Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
Inside Gaza, life is a struggle for survival. Families who fled airstrikes live in overcrowded shelters. Hospitals operate at less than a quarter of their capacity. Food insecurity is near universal. For many Gazans, daily existence is about queuing for water, searching for bread, and hoping tomorrow brings no new bombardment.
International aid does reach the strip, but rarely enough. Trucks carrying flour, medicines, and fuel are held up at checkpoints or destroyed in strikes. Humanitarian organisations warn of famine and disease outbreaks. The crisis has hardened global criticism of Israel’s strategy, even among allies.
Israel’s Balancing Act
Yet within Israel, the story is told differently. Citizens remember the shock of October 7, the funerals of loved ones, the empty chairs at dinner tables where hostages once sat. For them, the question is not whether the response was harsh, but whether it was enough to ensure such a day never happens again.
Public debate in Israel often revolves around this balance: how to safeguard civilians while facing accusations abroad of collective punishment. Critics accuse the government of overreach. Supporters argue that Israel is held to standards no other country would face after such an attack.
Searching for a Way Forward
Diplomats continue to push for a permanent ceasefire. The United States, Egypt, and Qatar have all tried to mediate pauses in fighting. Former President Donald Trump has floated a new peace plan, promising international oversight in Gaza and eventual reconstruction. Israelis have shown cautious interest, seeing it as a chance to restore quiet without leaving Hamas in control.
Still, trust is absent. For Palestinians, peace plans often feel like political theatre. For Israelis, they raise the fear of letting down their guard too soon. The ghosts of October 7 weigh heavily on every negotiation table.
A Region Marked by Trauma
Two years on, the war is measured not just in tonnes of rubble or casualty counts but in trauma. In Gaza, children grow up amid ruins. In Israel, survivors still wake to nightmares of that morning. The violence hardened divisions but also revealed a shared truth: ordinary people on both sides have borne the cost of decisions made far above them.
Israel continues to defend their campaign as a grim necessity, born of a promise to protect their people at any cost. Whether the world agrees or not, that belief remains central to how Israelis view themselves- small, vulnerable, and determined never to relive the terror of October 7 again.
