Friends of mine in the Israeli peace camp express the hope that out of such great tragedy could come a peaceful resolutionOctober 7 is a day of mourning. For Israelis, it is a reminder they remain a broken nation, with 101 hostages (many, perhaps half, presumed dead) still held in Gaza, and a dangerous escalation in the north as Israel battles Hezbollah. As one friend wrote to me today: “Just when we think it can’t get worse, it does.”There is Gaza: the heartbreak, massive civilian deaths, homelessness and hunger, resulting from the IDF invasion after 7 October, even as Hamas fights on and the Netanyahu government refuses to articulate a viable exit strategy.Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today’s Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK and Israeli publicationsDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...