Trauma Still Alive
On both sides of a sharpened border, a year has passed since a single moment linked two communities in a shared ache. On October 7, thousands of Hamas fighters stormed southern Israeli towns, killing 1,139 people and abducting 250 others. In an instant, Gazan and Israeli societies felt the same pull toward unity even as the ground beneath them shifted. Israel had emerged from months of mass protests against the government’s judicial reforms led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Gaza, more than fifteen years of a blockade tied to Egyptian and Israeli policy, combined with Hamas’s iron grip, had driven its people to the edge of poverty. Yet that day created a moment of common necessity, a brief impulse toward solidarity that could not last for long.
In Gaza, celebrations and cheers accompanied the return of children, nephews, and nieces to the land of their ancestors. The bloodshed tied to the attack was welcomed by some as a step toward historical justice. In Israel, the population set aside extreme polarization to support surviving families, those with loved ones held by Hamas, and tens of thousands of reservists who felt compelled to defend their state after the atrocity. Twelve months later, that moment of unity feels distant on both sides. Netanyahu pursues his political agenda, while Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas political and military leader, remains under the same rubble that shadows his people and their prospects for the future.
Trauma Still Alive
To this day, Netanyahu has not acknowledged the security and intelligence missteps that helped pave the October catastrophe. Instead, the prime minister presses forward, and a significant portion of the population resists giving him a free pass. The anniversary of October 7 is expected to become a reference point in this ongoing tension. Many kibbutzim and southern communities, which bore the brunt of Hamas’s assault, are choosing alternative commemorations, driven by the families of hostages and victims, and some are boycotting the official ceremony organized by Transportation Minister Miri Regev, accusing her of ignoring the families’ pain. They insist that memory must honor those harmed without masking the questions that remain about accountability and response.
Israeli activist Dani Filc, speaking on a public platform, described Israeli society as still hovering in a posttraumatic state. He pointed out that public opinion is deeply split around Netanyahu, and the hostage issue divides people between those who seek a negotiated end to the war and release of captives and those on the political right who believe force is the only path forward. The past year has shown that neither internal fragility nor external pressure seem capable of pushing Netanyahu to shift course. Recently he authorized a strike that killed Hizbullah’s leader Hasan Nasrallah, a move made without prior consultation with allied powers, including the United States, a decision that further complicated regional diplomacy.
Netanyahu, at the Mercy of His Partners
Over the past year, Netanyahu has resurfaced as a polarizing figure. Within his coalition, ultra‑Orthodox parties threaten to withdraw support if he complies with a Supreme Court order to end exemptions from military service for tens of thousands of yeshiva students. On the far right, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir press for a continuous, hardline approach in Gaza, regardless of the toll on hostages or the broader population. In late July, the detention of soldiers accused of torturing Palestinian detainees sparked a far‑right protest at the Sde Teiman military base, as politicians joined demonstrators calling for the soldiers to be freed. That scene underscored the fragile balance Netanyahu must navigate inside his own cabinet and the wider political arena. The politics of enduring conflict have a habit of reshaping leadership more quickly than citizens can adapt to them.
Filc argues that the ongoing war serves the agendas of Netanyahu and his partners, even as daily life in both societies bears the burden of conflict and the cost of instability. The absence of a clear successor at the center of the opposition has left the field open for Netanyahu to consolidate influence. Yair Lapid, the former centrist opposition leader, has yet to offer a convincing alternative, and Benny Gantz, once seen as a potential rival, now trails in public view as the political landscape remains unsettled after a year of crisis.
State of Hamas
Despite the physical and moral distance, the debate within Israel mirrors the rupture inside Gaza. In Gaza, the population increasingly blames Hamas for bringing ruin to their lives. Israel claims to have killed thousands of militants, dismantled the command structure of most battalions, and destroyed the tunnel network, yet Hamas’s control over the enclave has not vanished. American officials quoted by The New York Times have suggested that Hamas’s hold may have loosened, but it remains intact enough to govern. Netanyahu remains convinced that a definitive victory over the group is possible, yet many in his inner circle acknowledge that a total triumph may be unattainable.
“Hamas is an idea,” said the Israeli army spokesperson, a remark that challenged the notion of a clean victory. Those who believe Hamas can be erased are mistaken; the notion of eradicating the movement risks deceiving the public. The Israeli offensive has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives and eroded the group’s military infrastructure, but the resistance endures. For Hamas, surviving a year against one of the world’s most powerful armies — backed by Washington — has, in its own calculus, conferred a kind of victory that strengthens its standing at home and preserves its relevance in Gaza’s frail political landscape.
A year into the war, civilian administration continues to function under strain. The government still employs thousands, distributes aid, and security services strive to maintain order, according to state sources. The death of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late in July did not halt Hamas’s momentum; the group is steadily recruiting, and Yahya Sinwar, its chief military leader, has reinforced the insurgent logic that endurance itself can win legitimacy. If the war were to end tomorrow, many observers believe Hamas would still be the dominant force in the Gaza Strip, with public backing that could enable it to reorganize as the ruling party in the battered enclave, supported by a populace that prefers Hamas to its rival, Fatah.