Two years since Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel and infiltrated the country by air, land and sea on Oct. 7, 2023, the region still stands on high alert amid fears of a broader conflict and thousands dead on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border.
The conflict was touched off by a sneak attack, which included thousands of armed Hamas terrorists breaching a border security fence separating Gaza from Israel and indiscriminately torturing and gunning down Israeli civilians in their homes, also attacking soldiers, caught off guard, on military bases. Other militants stormed beaches in Israel on motorboats. And some brought death from the sky, paragliding into Israel to launch a barbaric attack at an open-air music festival that had been billed as a celebration of "unity and love".
Soon after, the IDF began its campaign of retaliation, bombarding Gaza with airstrikes, vowing to eradicate Hamas, the terrorist organisation that used to run Gaza and was believed to operate with the backing of Iran.
As the 2-year mark of the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks passes in Israel, the mental health crisis triggered by the atrocities of that day still looms large.
Frontline responders, such as the ambulance drivers and health workers in hospitals who received the wounded or were first to attend the scenes of the continuous and far-reaching Israeli attacks that followed, witnessed first-hand the carnage and horror. Others, who later supported the identification of bodies and the preparation of the dead for burial, were also powerfully affected by what they saw.
The attacks on 7 October left Israelis deeply scarred and frightened. For many, moving forward with their lives and regaining a sense of security and normalcy seemed impossible at the time and remains difficult today.
The conflict, or, rather, war, has left deep political, security and societal scars across the Middle East and North Africa.
The Gaza Strip, which was ruled by Hamas since 2007 and under an Israeli blockade for nearly two decades, suffered widespread destruction and heavy damage to its infrastructure. Since the war began, some 93,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The humanitarian situation in Gaza reached catastrophic levels, with Gazans facing massive food shortages, the spread of disease and the displacement of more than 1.9 million people from their homes.
Daily skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border led to dozens of deaths in both countries over the last two years.
More than 16,756 children have been killed, the highest number of children recorded in any single regional war, and more than 17,000 children have lost one or both parents. Despite global condemnations and pleas from international organisations and rights groups, Israel continued an indiscriminate campaign that sowed terror among the people in Gaza and killed entire multi-generational families.
More than a hundred thousand people were injured in Gaza, equal to almost 2 in 23 people. Nearly a quarter of the injured had life-altering injuries that are still not being met with rehabilitation needs. Severe limb injuries were the main driver for rehabilitation. Many children lost one or both legs, with operations and amputations conducted with little or no anaesthesia due to Israel's ongoing siege.
In addition to the killed and injured, more than 10,000 people were feared buried under the rubble and never found to this day. An estimated 85,000 tonnes of explosives were dropped on Gaza, with experts predicting it could take years to clear the debris amounting to more than 45 million tonnes, which is also rife with unexploded bombs.
Israel attacked almost all of Gaza's hospitals and healthcare facilities, rendering them inoperative and leaving many patients without access to essential medical services. Attacking hospitals, especially those treating critically ill patients and babies, could be a war crime as defined under international law.
More than 2,000 medical workers, including doctors, nurses, health associates, pharmacists and management and support staff, were senselessly killed. Among frontline workers, hundreds of civil defence workers were killed.
Last year, 300 bodies of young men, women and children were unearthed at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. A few days later, another mass grave was unearthed in the grounds of a school in Beit Lahiya. And even months later, another mass grave was unearthed at al-Shifa Hospital, with some of the bodies decapitated.
Where once stood the Gaza Emergency Operations Centre, bodies were recently found on beds at the reception and emergency department, over the heads of sick and injured people and buried alive.
According to Reporters Without Borders, hundreds of journalists, almost all Palestinian, have been killed since October 7.
Israeli forces destroyed several sports facilities, stadiums and gyms. Hundreds of sports officials or coaches have been killed in the war, among whom were footballers, including children who harboured dreams of playing for Palestine.
The collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces were horrific and unjustifiable.
The prolonged Israeli occupation of Gaza and other nearby territories will only breed more hatred and antagonism, sowing seeds of instability in the Middle East.
To date, there is still no shared coherent plan for post-war Gaza. Piecemeal crisis management alone will not prevent a relapse into the vicious cycle of conflict.
Unless the Israeli military and settlers stop leading an escalated campaign of displacement, dispossession and violent repression against Palestinians across Israel and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the senseless carnage is bound to continue into the coming years.
Dr Mark Said is a lawyer