AUSTIN (KXAN) — On October 7, 2023, a surprise attack by Hamas against Israel led to a year of war, with fears of the conflict ballooning to encompass the region.
That war, continents away, has been readily accessible to U.S. residents, who have seen videos and pictures of the war via social media. For Austin’s Muslim and Jewish residents, personal connection to the war has brought its stress and horror to Central Texas.
Painful, shocking, isolating
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Austin regional director Jackie Nirenberg said that the anniversary marks a difficult year and that Austin’s Jewish community has felt “helpless” and “frustrated,” especially those with family and friends in Israel.
“People who are living here in our community, who have family, loved ones, friends, living in Israel or in the Middle East in general, like they’re going through a very difficult time,” Nirenberg said. “I think there’s a lot of frustration too, that this conflict is going on and on, and appears to be expanding while there are hostages still alive.”
“To be targeted as Jewish people, because of our connection to Israel, has been really shocking, really painful and has left us feeling sort of isolated,” she added.
The past year has also created “painful” divides in the local community, Nirenberg said.
“To see the riff that’s formed in the community, both inside and outside the Jewish community, it’s very heartbreaking,” Nirenberg said. “It has been a hard year for obviously, for Palestinian Americans, for Muslim Americans as well. Everybody’s hurting, and everybody is filled with outrage, not knowing where to channel it. So we channel it to one another, and that’s just really destructive.”
This year, a few days prior to October 7, was Rosh Hashanah. The holiday marks the Jewish calendar’s new year. Nirenberg tells KXAN that it is a chance to reflect and look forward, and said she hopes that Austin can envision a better future together.
“We should all make a concerted effort to give each other some grace. This has been a very trying year for many of us,” she said. “I fear that if we don’t build some bridges in the community and start talking to one another again as human beings… we’re going to suffer some irreparable damage to our community.”
Austin for Palestine
Since Oct. 7, 2023, activists in the Austin metro have gathered in conflict-related demonstrations. Some have supported Israel, but Austin’s largest protests over the past year were opposed.
Zainab Haider, an Austin for Palestine Coalition organizer, has been active in the movement for at least 10 years. However, the demands of this year have taken near-constant effort from her and others.
“It’s incredibly exhausting work,” Haider said. “We cannot just go to bed and do normal things with our families, knowing that there’s families like ours across the world who are being bombed just because they are Palestinian… because of where they live.”
Haider said that the conflict has been devastating for her Palestinian friends and for Palestinian organizers she works alongside. She’s seen locals with Palestinian ties losing sleep, having difficulty eating, and developing health problems due to stress.
“They’re watching their people being slaughtered,” she said. “To see not just that Israel is getting away with this genocide, but that our government is… aiding and abetting this ongoing genocide, [by] sending our tax dollars to kill our people. It is the most horrific thing of all.”
From the coalition’s social media, it’s clear that the group plans to continue it efforts.
“Too many people are against [what] Israel is doing and want to see a land in which Israelis and Palestinians can live as equal citizens, with equal rights and not under an occupation,” Haider said. “When we say that Palestine will be free from the river to the sea, that means we want freedom and equal rights for all Palestinians.”
A sliver lining? More people are paying attention, Haider said.
“Once people are aware of what Israel is doing, and they’re aware that there’s a genocide and that there’s an apartheid system, people cannot un-see that,” she said.
Counting the lost
More than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals died in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and around 5,432 were wounded, according to Israel. The majority of the dead (797) were civilians. At least 251 hostages were taken by Hamas during the attack.
Investigations by the United Nations and Israeli reporters found that some of those deaths may have been caused by the IDF targeting vehicles known to have hostages aboard.
According to Israel, the IDF killed 1,609 Palestinian fighters in the attack. Israel retaliated with airstrikes, missiles and an invasion into the Gaza Strip.
As of Oct. 6, the IDF’s “defensive” operations have killed 41,870 Palestinians and wounded 97,166 more, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians. A study published July in The Lancet noted that the ministry’s numbers are “likely an underestimate,” as 35% of Gaza’s buildings were destroyed by February 2024 — making recovery of bodies difficult.
Israeli officials estimated in September that at least 97 people are still captive in Gaza. They also estimate that a third of the remaining hostages have been killed, with some confirmed to have been killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Israeli military operations in Gaza are still ongoing and have expanded into Lebanon, including airstrikes, remotely detonated bombs and another invasion. As of October 2024, more than 2,000 Lebanese have been killed.
As of October 2024, at least 347 Israeli combatants have been killed in the Gaza invasion, according to the IDF.
Accurately counting a war’s devastation is a process that takes many years. As such, these numbers are all estimates, a snapshot of what the world knows. As of Oct. 7, 2024, the war has cost humanity the lives of more than 70,000 people and permanently changed the lives of millions more — numbers that will grow until it ends.
