Devastating Toll
AP and Tol staff
Times of Israel, Oct. 5, 2024
“As long as the war is still continuing, there’s no way to feel calm, to return to our lives. We still have the hostages there. We still have nightmares. There’s no end.”
Lilach Almog walks past the remains of a police station seized by Hamas terrorists and buildings pockmarked by bullets in her southern Israeli town multiple times a day. “Every corner has become a memorial,” she said.
“Even if you want to forget for a bit, you can’t. You look outside at the wall and it reminds you of everything all over again.”
Almog was one of the roughly 120,000 Israelis displaced by the Israel-Hamas war but has returned home to constant reminders of the October 7 onslaught. The shock assault saw thousands of Hamas-led terrorists storm southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
A year later, survivors reflect on the day that changed everything. They hid in bedrooms, bomb shelters, safe rooms and beneath trees as the terrorists poured in across the border. In the aftermath, survivors have mourned loved ones, struggled with anxiety, suffered survivor’s guilt and questioned whether they will ever return home to places that still bear the scars of their ordeal. … [To read the full article, click here]