As the world approaches the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 atrocity by Hamas that claimed the lives of nearly 1,200 Israelis, a logic of hatred continues to prevail in the Holy Land conflict that was precipitated by this savage raid. 

How can the combatants shift to a different prevailing logic, one that will facilitate peace instead of further deadly escalations of this tragic situation? A starting point would be for all parties to acknowledge that both sides are being profoundly wounded by the ongoing hostilities. 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who as Latin patriarch of Jerusalem is the spiritual shepherd of both Palestinian and Hebrew Catholics and has invited the faithful to participate in a day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7, recently remarked that too many Israelis and Palestinians focus solely on their own injuries and grievances and disregard the anguish inflicted on the other side. 

“The situation is so polarized that if you are close to the Palestinians, the Israelis feel betrayed, and vice versa,” he said. “When I speak of the suffering of Gaza, the Hebrew Catholics tell me about the areas which suffered in the 7 October attacks, and on the other side, the Palestinians think only of Gaza. Everybody wants to have a monopoly on the suffering.” 

Not long after the cardinal pointed this out, the suffering multiplied even further. Incensed by the incessant rain of rockets launched against Israel by Iranian-affiliated Hezbollah militants from southern Lebanon in support of Hamas — and in particular by the deadly July 27 attack in the Golan Heights that claimed the lives of 12 innocent children playing on a sports field in a Druze village — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government retaliated in September with a brutal wave of intense bombardments of Hezbollah-controlled sites in Lebanon. 

Hundreds died in just the first two days of the bombings. Israel is also believed to be responsible for the detonation of thousands of paging devices belonging to Hezbollah members, reportedly killing more than 40 people and wounding thousands more. And on Sept. 27 Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut, generating fears that a ground war between Israel and Hezbollah might be about to commence.

Speaking at his Sept. 25 weekly general audience, Pope Francis decried the “news coming from Lebanon, where, in recent days, intense bombings have caused many victims and destruction,” calling the escalation “unacceptable” and urging international leaders to make “every effort” to stop the spiraling violence. 

For Israel and for the citizens of Gaza, the past year has been a tremendous tragedy. In light of what ensued, Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel has been described as a “catastrophic success.” That’s because while it caught Israel by surprise, and resulted in an unprecedented short-term success for the Islamic militant organization, it triggered a disastrous counteroffensive that has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians. It has also done incalculable damage to prospects for a two-state solution.  

One year later, the goal of bringing peace, tolerance and coexistence to the Middle East has never seemed more distant, from a geopolitical perspective. 

For his part, Netanyahu seems safe politically so long as he can show that his “whatever it takes” prosecution of the war is producing tangible victories. Yet at the same time, Hamas’ leadership so far remains unvanquished, despite the immense devastation inflicted by Israel’s military campaign to purge them completely from the Palestinian territory they previously controlled. 

Overall, the Holy See has done a sound job navigating the conflict’s diplomatic challenges. Cardinal Pizzaballa, in particular, has shown himself to be a strong leader and advocate of the civilians in Gaza who are paying dearly for Hamas’ initial barbarities. 

By contrast, the Biden administration has done little to improve the situation, largely due to deep divisions within the Democratic Party over Israel and Gaza. Catholic Americans should hope and pray for steadier political leadership going forward, as the U.S. almost certainly will retain its traditional role of brokering a Mideast peace settlement when the combatants on both sides finally become open to securing a cease-fire. 

But politics alone can never accomplish a lasting peace in the Holy Land, given the seemingly unbridgeable divide between the aspirations of the Israelis and the Palestinians. A profound spiritual change of hearts is the only way to replace this logic of war with a logic of peace. And it’s in this context that an authentically Christian witness can be of greatest service. 

Two thousand years ago, Jesus proclaimed a startling and unprecedented precept to the Holy Land residents of his own day, telling them: “Love your enemies.” Critics sometimes deride his instruction as utterly impractical, but actually it’s completely the opposite. In every context, beginning from within the family all the way up to the level of international relations, lasting peace is attained only when mutual animosities are replaced by mutual concern for each other’s legitimate needs and desires. That’s love in action. 

It may be too much to hope for a lasting cease-fire anytime soon. But all sides of this wrenching war could take one small but significant step toward peace by simply acknowledging the truth of what Cardinal Pizzaballa has expressed: There is no monopoly on suffering.