Peace, not revenge
The threat of a new conflict in this turbulent world we live in overshadows previous ones in the news until something significant happens that reminds us that we must not forget what is happening
Two years on, visiting the Israeli kibbutzim that suffered the Hamas terrorist attack allows us to analyse the scale of this doubly cruel massacre with more specific and verified data. On the one hand, because of the perpetrators' cruelty towards defenceless civilians and the corpses of the victims, especially young people who were subjected to horrific sexual assaults. And on the other, because of their intention to broadcast it live, to show the terrible damage they were inflicting on the Israelis, knowing, of course, that their criminal acts would provoke a forceful and devastating reaction from Israel.
More than two years have passed since that 7th of October, and some of the people who lost loved ones, who suffered as hostages for many days, are struggling to recount their horrific experience. They never cease to amaze when they state, with conviction and emphaticness – as in the case of Karina, whose husband was killed while defending his family – that they do not want revenge, that they want to live in peace, although they acknowledge that they do not want to live again in a place where the memories and suffering are still very recent.
Karina deeply regrets the death of civilians in Gaza; she recounts how she and her two children were kidnapped there, living with a family in a dark room. But she insists that revenge will not bring back Ronie, her husband, and calls for a future in peace, without threats or violence for anyone, but with the assurance that there will be no chance of an attack like the one suffered on 7 October ever happening again.
More than 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped, of whom only 168 have returned alive; a life that has to overcome many traumas, such as those suffered by thousands of Palestinian civilians used as human shields by Hamas terrorists.
A new Middle East is underway. The influence of Iran and its terrorist groups has diminished significantly. Israel is thwarting Hezbollah's attempts to reorganise and rearm in Lebanon.
The United States is leading a peace and reconstruction option with strong international support, and the determination is that this opportunity to stabilise the region once and for all will not be thwarted by the interests of radicals and those who need violence for their own benefit.