It’s now nearly two years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack triggered an ongoing war that has shaken the very foundations of our lives here in Israel.

It’s been another immensely trying year for Israel, as the war has not ended and terror groups in the Gaza Strip still hold 47 of the 251 hostages abducted on October 7. The country is deeply torn over its leadership, the war’s continued justification, and fundamental domestic matters such as Haredi conscription and an independent judiciary.

• September 2024: Following Israel’s stunning beeper operation against Hezbollah operatives, an escalation on the Lebanon front, including the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and an IDF ground invasion in southern Lebanon
• October 2024: Iran launches 200 ballistic missiles at Israel; Hamas leader and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar is killed by the IDF in Rafah; IDF retaliates against Iran by striking Iranian military sites and air defenses
• November 2024: The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”; Israel and Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon
• December 2024: The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad falls; Israel conducts numerous strikes on Syrian military sites and enters the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights
• January 2025: Israel and Hamas reach a temporary ceasefire and hostage release agreement
• February 2025: The IDF mostly withdraws from Lebanon but maintains military outposts there
• March 2025: The Gaza ceasefire collapses and IDF military actions in Gaza resume; Houthi missile attacks on Israel intensify “in rejection” of Israel’s “genocide in Gaza”
• April 2025: A Houthi hypersonic ballistic missile strikes the perimeter of Ben Gurion Airport; major wildfires break out in more than 100 locations through the Judaean Mountains area. The fires begin, ominously, on Israel’s Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) and force the cancellation of most Independence Day celebrations
• May 2025: Israel begins a new wave of retaliatory attacks on Houthi-controlled Yemen; the UN Human Rights Commissioner declares Israel’s Gaza escalation and aid blockade “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”
• June 2025: Israel launches surprise attacks on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, beginning a 12-day war; Israel kills Iran’s top military leadership, including IRGC commander Hossein Salami; Iran fires over 500 ballistic missiles toward major Israeli cities, including 200 in one day (June 14); 31 Israelis are killed and over 3,000 injured; major damage is caused to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, the Bazan oil refinery in Haifa Bay, and Soroka Hospital in Beersheba; the United States strikes three Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israel
• July 2025: Houthis resume Red Sea attacks; the Gaza conflict continues
• August 2025: The IDF begins an offensive to take over Gaza City in the north; the Israeli Air Force launches multiple waves of airstrikes in Yemen, killing Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and other senior officials
• September 2025: Israel conducts a surprise airstrike in Doha, Qatar, targeting most of the key Hamas leadership at a residential complex as they gather to discuss a ceasefire proposal for Gaza; none of the prime targets is believed to be killed; US President Donald Trump expresses deep unhappiness that Israel struck inside the territory of US ally and Gaza mediator Qatar

Since the war began, 904 IDF soldiers have been killed across the various arenas of conflict. More than 10,000 IDF soldiers have been treated for mental health issues. And Israelis’ fundamental sense of security and stability has been deeply shaken.

• 90% of Gaza border community residents have returned to their communities.
• Young Israelis who have been asked to contribute so much these past two years, notably in innumerable stints of reserve duty, are pledging to lead a new wave of political and social leadership.
• New political parties are being formed.
• Extraordinary scientific innovation from Israel continues, as our reporter Diana Bletter has documented.
• Tel Aviv share indexes have surged to all-time highs and the shekel appreciated nearly ten percent, with investors hopeful for an economic “peace dividend” with neighbors following the Iran conflict resolution.

(Excerpted from The Times of Israel, David Horowitz)