View from Israel: One year on from October 7 attack and omens are dark

Israel is still reeling 12 months after the Hamas terror attack which saw 1,200 Israelis killed and a further 250 taken hostage

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, on this day in 2023, following the Hamas multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak. Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea, killing dozens and stunning the country. Palestinian health officials reported scores of deaths from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. File picture: Fatima Shbair/AP

One year year on from the horror of the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, when 1,200 Israelis were murdered, and a further 250 were taken hostage, the mood and outlook for Israelis and Palestinians and the wider region is bleaker than ever.

Some 100 or so of those hostages continue to be held by Hamas, and less than half are believed to remain alive after one year in captivity in the network of built tunnels under the streets and towns of Gaza.