For the hostages and their families, the nightmare continues. During the UN General Assembly, I met with relatives of hostages in New York. I met a man whose two brothers were taken from the Kibbutz Kfar Azza. He lives in uncertainty, not knowing if they are still alive. And I spoke to a mother who had already received the most painful news - her son was killed in captivity. For all the families of hostages, 7 October is the anniversary of a horror with no end in sight.

At the same time, 7 October unfortunately also marked the beginning of another horror for the people of Gaza. It marked the beginning of a war in which International Humanitarian Law has not been respected, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, the vast majority civilians, many of them children, and which has displaced almost two million people. 250 United Nations workers have lost their lives in the line of duty. The vast majority of the population is malnourished, especially affecting children under five, who are also afflicted by viral infections and bacteria resulting from a lack of clean water and the destruction of sanitation. Many suffer from diarrhoea, and the absence of vaccination has led to the return of polio. Everything that makes a society function has been reduced to rubble: hospitals and schools. We must not reduce this tragedy to statistics that make us indifferent.

A few weeks ago, I was in Egypt at the Rafah border crossing. I could hear the explosions on the other side. In a children’s hospital that I visited, co-financed by the EU, I saw children and teenagers who had lost legs or arms. I met mothers terrified at the thought of returning to a place where human life is barely possible anymore. And I saw how the Israeli authorities persistently hinder the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip. This tragedy has to stop. One horror cannot justify another.  

The EU has been working to help return the Israeli hostages and alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s civilian population. We fully support efforts to achieve a ceasefire. However, a ceasefire seems increasingly unlikely; largely because those who are waging war have little interest in stopping it. Instead, we are seeing the expansion of violence into the West Bank, and the expansion of war into Lebanon and beyond.

Today, one year after 7 October, we see the cycle of violence continue that has led us from funeral to funeral, from one generation to the next. Trust between the parties in conflict has been shattered. We see the voices of extremists grow louder and we see many in the Middle East trapped in a logic that seeks military knockout blows but lacks a political strategy for what comes next.

As defenders of Human Rights and friends of Israel and its people, we want to ensure that the horrors of October 7 are never repeated. But true friendship also requires us to point out that the only viable way to achieve this is to recognise that both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples are equal in rights and dignity, and that they must coexist peacefully in mutual recognition. Therefore, Palestine has the right to self-determination and statehood. Peace is the only true security guarantee.

We need to push back against the extremists on both sides. We must not allow them to dominate the debate with incitement to violence and hate speech. Instead, we should amplify the voices of the many moderates who seek dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis, such as Nasser Al-Kidwa, a former foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who just launched their own peace proposal.

We also need to strengthen all those in the Middle East who advocate for peace. As my friend, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, said recently at the United Nations, 57 Arab and Muslim countries are willing to guarantee Israel's security if the occupation of Palestinian territories ends and a Palestinian state is established within its internationally recognised borders. No one should dismiss this offer.

There is no more decisive blow that Israel can deal to those who seek its demise than to engage with those who recognise its right to exist and are willing to guarantee its security. Some of them have done so for several decades, including Jordan and Egypt. These peace agreements should serve as blueprints for peace with other states of the region, including with a Palestinian state.

A year after Hamas’ terrorist attack that has plunged the region into the worst spiral of violence in decades, peace seems a distant dream. Both societies are deeply traumatised. Resentment, polarisation, and dehumanisation have reached alarming levels. As Hannah Arendt said, "The death of human empathy is the first sign of the descent into barbarism."

However, this is precisely where the building of peace must begin, and with it the construction of a new Middle East, where the horrors that began on 7 October become as unimaginable as war between Europeans is today.