While many are mourning the anniversary of the conflict on Monday, the fighting hasn’t stopped in the Middle East.
A salvo of airstrikes were exchanged between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah in the last 24 hours, showing no end to an escalating, wider conflict in the region.
Israel’s iron dome defense system was busy intercepting a barrage of Hezbollah missiles on Monday.
Some of the rockets that landed injured nearly a dozen people and destroyed homes in the Haifa area.
In response to the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “unlike the Holocaust, we fight back. We’re fighting like lions with the support of the American government and the American people.”
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The Israeli military later retaliated with their own attacks, saying they’ve hit more than 100 Hezbollah targets. Local authorities are reporting ten people have died from attacks made earlier Monday.
Inside the rubble-filled Gaza Strip civilians in Khan Younis continue to be on the move away from Israeli airstrikes. Local health authorities say more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war.
A masked spokesperson for Hamas, through the use of a video message, issued a threat of more attacks and no guarantee that the remaining hostages will survive unless Israel comes to a hostage deal.
There does not appear to be any sign of de-escalation and according to Jon Allen from the University of Toronto, “none of the parties – Qatar, Israel, Egypt, Hamas – none of them are meeting or talking about a ceasefire, and neither are the Americans at this point in time.”
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Allen told CHCH News that he believes if Israel can officially eliminate Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar – who has reportedly resurfaced following speculation that he had been killed – then Israel could declare victory and peace talks could resume.
“Then the international community, including the UAE (United Arab Emirates), the Saudis and the U.S. can say to Hamas that ‘enough is enough’. If they can, then they can allow a strong delivery of humanitarian aid and to begin the reconstruction,” Allen says.
While U.S. officials spent the day remembering the October 7 attack, the U.S. State Department says it’s “very difficult to answer” whether Israel is safer in the long-term after one year of the war.
They also say there has to be a path forward for governance in Gaza, that does not include Hamas.
