On the first anniversary of October 7th, CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to the respected former Middle East Minister, The Rt. Hon. Alistair Burt, about events leading up to, and the impact of that dreadful day. We remember the innocent victims killed and injured on October 7th and the hostages taken and the innocent victims in Gaza, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank in the weeks and months that followed.
CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to The Right Hon. Alistair Burt, the highly respected former Foreign Office Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa on the first anniversary of the October 7th terror attacks by Hamas on Israel which resulted in the murder of around 1,195 Israelis, with another 251 taken hostage.
The attacks in turn led to a massive 12 month-long military response by Israel against Gaza and the deaths of at least 41,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, including women, children, babies, journalists, medics, and aid workers, with thousands more feared dead under the rubble. A further 479 Palestinians have also been killed - mostly by settler extremists - in the occupied West Bank in the last year.
Attacks by Israel on Lebanon have so far killed an estimated 2,000 people including a reported 110 health workers.
A year later, the conflict shows greater potential of spreading with Israel's current intensive campaign of airstrike on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Iran's recent missile attack on Israel. Alistair Burt is an acknowledged expert on the Middle East and openly discusses his own fears and hopes for the region, and asks, can we regain sufficient humanity to acknowledge the tragedy of all innocent victims?