One year since that awful day: Exactly one year ago, Hamas rushed into Israel and massacred more than 1,200 people, abducting 250. About 100 hostages in Gaza are not accounted for—either imprisoned or dead, held by terrorists who won't return either the living captives or their bodies to their families.
Following the attack, Israel invaded Gaza; so far, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, per (Hamas-controlled) health authority data. Israel claims it has killed 17,000 Hamas militants; how many deaths are civilians and how many are fighters is obviously important but is hard to reliably determine. Israel's campaign has obliterated vast swaths of the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli military says its goal is to fully wipe out Hamas and those responsible for the pogrom. Now Israeli is also attempting to eradicate Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in Lebanon with whom they've been exchanging fire for much of the last year. In April, Israel and Iran directly exchanged strikes. Last week, Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel; it is still awaiting Israel's response.
