On Saturday, millions awoke ready to celebrate the end of SukkotA Jewish autumn festival of thanksgiving, celebrated for seven days. with the holiday of Simchat TorahA Jewish religious holiday in early October, celebrating the completion of the annual reading of the Torah. . The festivities usually involve dancing and singing with the Torah scrolls, but on this occasion it was marked by sombre silence and an absence of merriment.

At dawn, a surprise incursion by the PalestinianPalestine is an area of the eastern Mediterranean region, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and parts of modern Israel. It has been fought over by Arab and Jewish national movements for many years. militant group HamasA militant Palestinian organisation, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. It is listed as a terrorist organisation in the UK. from GazaThe smaller of two Palestinian territories, home to two million people. It is located on the Mediterranean coast, bordered by Israel and Egypt. into Israel sent the world reeling. Hamas claims to have launched 5,000 rockets across Israel. Sirens sounded as a barrageA bombardment of multiple artillery weapons over a large area. hit parts of four cities, including Tel Aviv. Fighters raided the border towns of Ofakim and Sderot. The Israeli death toll has reached 700, and the fate of many Israeli hostages taken from a music festival is still unclear.

Hamas said they were entering "the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth". The Gaza strip, which is only twice the size of Washington DC but home to 2.3 million Palestinian people¹, has been under blockade from Israel for sixteen years.² It is described by human rights groups as an "open-air prison", often without electricity, food security, clean water and adequate healthcare or education.

In response to the offensive by Hamas, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was at war. Promptly launching a wave of airstrikes in Gaza, civilians were ordered to flee to avoid being hit. But with the blockade in place and electricity and fuel supplies cut off, Palestinians have nowhere to flee to. So far, 413 have been killed in the retaliatory attacks. Meanwhile, in the West BankA landlocked territory bordered by Israel, Jordan and the Dead Sea. It is the largest of the Palestinian territories. , seven people have been killed by Israeli army fire.

The tragedy on both sides is immeasurable. Before the latest conflict, 6,407 Palestinians and 308 Israelis had been killed since 2008 as a result of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with thousands more injured. Many think the numbers will skyrocket as Netanyahu promises to turn Gaza "into rubble" in revenge for a "black day".

It is raising dark memories for Israeli people, who recall the Yom Kippur WarThe Yom Kippur War was an armed conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, including Egypt and Syria. It occurred on the holy day of Yom Kippur in 1973. which took place 50 years ago almost to the day.

And the situation has the potential to destabilise even further. The offensive on Israel amounts to a huge intelligence and security failure on the part of Israel's prime minister. Before now, the idea that armed Palestinian gunmen would be able to cross the heavily fortified border into Israel was unprecedentedNever been seen before.. Many think it could raise serious questions about Netanyahu's leadership, which he is likely to divert by cracking down hard on Gaza and Hamas.

As war alights again in the Middle East, it rages on in Ukraine and Sudan. More than 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-KarabakhA mountainous region of the South Caucasus. The area is disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia. as Azerbaijan's army seizes control over the region. Tensions appear close to boiling point in KosovoA landlocked country in the Balkans in southeast Europe. It has a population of 1.87 million. , raising the spectre of a second European war. And there are countless other regional and ethnicRelating to a group of people who share a race, nationality or cultural group. conflicts. Some say that we will never see peace.

The repercussions could be endless. The US is already being criticised for a prisoner swap which released Iranian funds that some allege funded Hamas' attacks. Some believe Russia will leverage the conflict to pressure Western countries to divert their support to Ukraine. And some even think that this network of alliances and enmitiesFeelings of hostility or hatred. will drag us into a third World War.

Yes: Peace can become the norm - but it will take huge effort from around the world. And peace is not only the absence of war, but also the absence of incursions, blockades, of sieges and of annexation.

No: Conflict is breaking out all over the globe, and tensions will only worsen as more and more refugees from both war and climate change flee across the world. We could even witness a third World War.

Or... War happens in every region around the world. It is simply human nature to make conflict with our neighbours. We will unfortunately never lose this part of the human condition.