I am personally horrified by what has happened since October 2023. This wasn’t just a Middle East tragedy - it was the spark for a global war of ideology and hate.
Hamas has nothing to be proud of - their actions brought only suffering, not liberation. What’s equally heartbreaking is what has happened in my own country since. I’ve watched antisemitism creep in and take root, openly and shamelessly, under the banner of “activism.” It has poisoned conversations, divided communities, and created anger, violence and hatred. This is no longer about Gaza but a global war of identity and division, where HARMONY is being choked out.
The “Pro-Palestine” movement, as it now stands, feels less like a call for justice and more like a weapon - one used to divide and destroy the harmony that once held our nation together. I have deep sympathy for the innocent people of Gaza, trapped in unimaginable hardship, but I can’t ignore that many there have been taught to celebrate the destruction of Jews and of Israel itself. That’s not a movement for freedom - that’s a war of faith and hatred, and it terrifies me.
Two years ago today - October 7, 2023 - the world stopped in shock. Hamas launched a brutal, calculated attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and taking 251 hostages. It was the deadliest day in Israel’s history, and it ripped open not just a border, but a wound that still hasn’t begun to heal.
That one day changed everything. It set off a war that has devastated Israel, spilled into neighbouring countries, and deepened divisions around the world. From London to Los Angeles, Montreal to Melbourne, families, friendships, and communities have fractured over who to blame and what justice should look like.
Now, two years later - October 2025 - there’s a fragile truce deal on the table. On paper, it’s a chance for the bloodshed to stop. But a lot of people are asking the same uneasy question: Is this really a path to peace?
The Day That Lit the Fuse
October 7 wasn’t just another attack - it was a coordinated military assault, more like a mini-invasion. Hamas fighters broke through Israel’s high-tech border in more than 100 places, launching rockets, gunning down civilians, and kidnapping hundreds. The Nova music festival became a massacre site. The horror was streamed and shared across the world in real time.
Hamas claimed it wanted to derail peace deals between Israel and Arab states to remind the world that Palestinians hadn’t disappeared. But their “golden moment,” as one leader later called it, came at an unbearable cost. Israel’s response was swift and crushing.
By the end of 2024, Gaza was in ruins.
The World Turns Inward
While bombs fell in the Middle East, another kind of war broke out online and in the streets.
Antisemitic attacks skyrocketed - vandalism, assaults, death threats. Social media has become a swamp of rage and propaganda. People who’d once shared dinner tables or pews found themselves on opposite sides of a digital battlefield.
The Roots of a Conflict That Won’t Heal
Hamas’s charter still refuses to recognise Israel’s right to exist, and while they’ve softened some language in recent years, their strategy remains clear - fight, regroup, repeat.
The result? Gaza lies in ruins, Hamas keeps regenerating, and the world grows more divided by the day. Polls show that while two-thirds of Palestinians still call October 7 a “legitimate act of resistance,” many on both sides say they simply want it all to end. Exhaustion may be the only thing everyone agrees on.
The “Trump Plan” - Hope or Trap?
Enter Donald Trump, back in the headlines with what he calls his “Gaza Peace Plan.”
Talks kicked off in Egypt, with Trump’s team, Israel, Hamas, and mediators from Qatar and Egypt all involved. The deal’s basic idea sounds straightforward enough:
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Hamas releases all 48 remaining hostages (24 believed alive, 24 confirmed dead).
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Israel frees 250 high-security prisoners and about 1,700 others.
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The IDF withdraws partially from Gaza and allows 600 aid trucks a day.
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An “International Stabilisation Force” - possibly including Indonesian troops - polices the ceasefire.
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Gaza would eventually be governed by a non-Hamas, technocratic administration under UN oversight.
On paper, it’s an ambitious peace deal. In reality, it’s a minefield.
Hamas wants the ceasefire to be permanent. Israel insists on the right to resume operations if Hamas violates any terms.
Sound familiar? It’s a pattern we’ve seen before: a pause in fighting that becomes an opportunity for Hamas to regroup, and for Israel to prepare for another battle.
The Trap Theory
Many analysts suspect that Trump and Netanyahu know exactly what they’re doing. The deal, they say, is designed to look generous - but to fail in execution.
Here’s the logic:
If Hamas complies, Trump and Netanyahu get to claim victory and bask in peace-maker glory.
If Hamas cheats, delays, or smuggles weapons - Israel can hit back, hard, with Arab states and the U.S. quietly nodding along.
Hamas’s new military chief, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, has already called it “a trap.”
So Where Does That Leave Us?
Four paths lie ahead:
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The Miracle: Hamas fully complies, releases all hostages, disarms, and hands over Gaza to a new governing body. Reconstruction begins, peace talks revive, and the world dares to hope. (Not likely.)
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The Slip: Hamas bends the rules - delays releases, moves fighters, smuggles arms - and Israel responds. The truce collapses, Gaza burns again, Israel is back in combat mode and Arab states stay quiet. (Most likely.)
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The Stalemate: Everyone accuses everyone else of breaking the deal. Aid trickles in. Missiles still fall, but less often. The world stops paying attention. ) Possible )
- The Worry: This is where, no matter what happens, the protests continue and, now that as some have said, the " genie is out of the bottle " the peace talks and ceasefires have no impact whatsoever and the war rages in countries far from the original horror. ( My pick. )
Epilogue - Beyond Politics
What worries me most is that this has gone far beyond politics. What began as a conflict between nations has morphed into a movement - an ideology dressed up as activism. It’s no longer about what happened on October 7th, 2023. That was the spark, the fuse that lit a bomb which is still exploding across the world today.
The hate, the protests, the slogans - they’ve taken on a life of their own. The facts no longer seem to matter. What matters now, to too many, is choosing sides, shouting louder, and assigning blame.
It’s not about justice anymore. It’s about identity, anger, and power - and it’s tearing at the moral fabric of countries far from the battlefield.
That’s what frightens me most. The war that began in the Middle East has metastasised into our culture, our schools, our cities. It’s changing how we see each other - and how we see truth itself.
