A number of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians have chosen to join the Parents Circle – Families Forum since October 7. Six of them tell Haaretz about their choice to stand together, with very little support from their society around them

Since Israelis’ lives were engulfed in horror on October 7, a catastrophe that has yet to end for Palestinians in Gaza, we bereaved families from both sides of the conflict are coming together to remember the innocent children whose only crime was being Palestinian or Israeli

We are dedicating the ceremony to children in war. Their only crime is being Palestinian or Israeli.

While a ceasefire agreement is once again on hold, dividing Israeli society, some families of hostages say they are victims of intimidation by a government prioritizing its ongoing operation in Rafah.

Jerusalem District Court judge Avraham Rubin criticized the education ministry for banning the Parents Circle – Families Forum from operating in Israeli schools, despite not conducting a ‘proper factual examination of the allegations’ made against it by right-wing organizations

“The whole world has to come and force Israel and Palestine to come to the table to talk, because we cannot go on killing each other.” Robi Damelin, whose son was killed by a Palestinian sniper, calls for an end to bloodshed in the Israel-Hamas war.

In the city of Haifa, in northwest Israel, the sounds of Arabic, Hebrew and Russian chatter fill the streets. In the Arab-Christian neighbourhood of Wadi Nisnas lies Beit Hagefen, an Arab-Jewish cultural centre set in gleaming white stone.