It is hard to find any light amid the intense violence and suffering being endured in Gaz and Israel by all civilians. There are some with long experience of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians who believe that calls for revenge only prolong the violence and that in a war, empathy and reconciliation are possible.

They’re from Israel and Gaza. A man whose parents died on Oct. 7 feels as if he is swimming in a sea of sorrow. A young man has a soldier’s bullet lodged in his spine. Yet they have not lost hope.

While the conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to hardened positions on both sides… There ARE voices calling for reconciliation and peace… even from some who’ve endured the most heartbreaking losses.

They both played their part in the violence that has shaped their lives. They are both bereaved fathers, of young daughters. Somehow, against the odds, both have resisted the urge for vengeance. Rami Elhanan, an Israeli, and Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, were once united by their anger and grief.

While the world focuses on the human tragedy of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, there are hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals actively working to build peace.

Start at 49:58 : There’s a group called Parents Circle Families Forum that brings together members from the Jewish and Palestinian communities to preach reconciliation.

The Parents Circle is the club nobody wants to belong to. Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin, co-directors of the club, advocate for peace between Israelis and Palestinians after both lost their young daughters to the violence that has embroiled their region for decades.

Over the last decade, I have participated in several Israeli-Palestinian activities. The most meaningful project was initiated by the Parents’ Circle, an organization of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who lost a family member due to the conflict.

Two Israeli and Palestinian fathers explained why they call each other “brothers” as they spoke to Victoria Derbyshire on Sunday, 29 October, as the Israel-Hamas conflict continued.