Remembering, on the second anniversary of October 7th, the sickening, gruesome attacks which took place in Israel: the twelve hundred people who were murdered by Hamas (aided by such terrorist groups as Palestinian Islamic Jihad). Some civilians, it has been reported, also took part in the attacks.
And, remembering the breathtaking extent of the cruelties, the terror, that day: the burning of homes with their residents inside, the hunting of victims, the rapes (which, it has been reported, included gang rape), the reported acts of mutilation of victims' bodies, the countless other depravities.
And, of course: the kidnappings of some 250 people--babies, children, adults, and elderly people, taken into Gaza as hostages.
Twenty hostages are believed to still be alive in Gaza; it is also believed that the bodies of twenty-eight others, who were either killed on October 7th or who died afterward, remain held by Hamas.
One prays that the peace deal currently on the table will be agreed to (or at least mostly agreed to), that all of the hostages (living and dead) will be released to their loved ones, that Hamas will lay down its arms and will leave Gaza, and that we will see the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Palestinian civilians.
