2 YEARS ON, GAZANS ENDURE LOSS, GRIEF

AFTER A DESTRUCTIVE MILITARY CAMPAIGN, ISRAEL FACES GENOCIDE CHARGES AS WELL AS GLOBAL ISOLATION

- BY STEPHEN N. R.

Two years after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack plunged Gaza and the wider Middle East into war, the militant group is battered but not broken, Israel is militarily dominant yet politically adrift, and Washington remains its indispensable backer with no clear path to peace.

The attack — the deadliest on Israeli soil — killed about 1,200 people and triggered one of the most destructive military campaigns since World War II.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, much of Gaza flattened, and famine has taken hold in parts of the blockaded enclave.

The conflict soon metastasized into a regional war, drawing in Lebanon's Hezbollah, armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and their patron, Iran — which suffered major losses during a 12-day Israeli offensive earlier this year.

Through it all, Hamas has clung to influence in what remains of Gaza, still holding 48 hostages, around 20 of whom Israel believes are alive.

Not without Washington