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‘I Wouldn’t Want to Be Anywhere Else’: Israelis Celebrate Hanukkah Amidst War with Hamas
Then-Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat attending a Hanukkah event at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Dec. 3, 2018. Photo: Aharon Krohn/Flash90.
Hanukkah is in full force in Israel and citizens are once again plagued with a holiday full of bumper to bumper traffic in a country that feels smaller than ever amidst the raging war with Hamas.
The extended holidays in Israel, whether it be Passover in the Spring, Sukkot in the Fall, or Hanukkah in the winter, all have two things in common; joy and traffic. The phenomenon is well documented and loathed by Israelis right and left, religious and secular, all who are forced to sit in their cars for hours on end for what could normally be short trips.
One Israeli, Tamar, described the traffic as the worst she can remember. She recounted during the holiday sitting in traffic for more than an hour at the entrance to a major highway, not moving for most of the time. “I drive the route every day, and the road is normally a minute or two prior to entering the highway… I thought I was going crazy from sitting for so long,” she said.
She said “traffic during the holidays is always bad, but this year feels different.”
The main reason, typically, for the congestion on the roads is first and foremost due to the fact that all primary and secondary schools throughout the country are closed down for the week to allow for family activities across the country. In a typical year, families will explore the nature of the north, south, and central of the country – enjoying hotels or camping in the outdoors. Others will take the time to travel abroad.
This year, though, the Hanukkah break is different due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And due to the war, Israelis like Tamar are saying the traffic is the worse it has even been.
This is due to three main reasons. First of all, hardly any Israelis are traveling overseas during the holiday time. Travel warnings to most countries exist as per the country’s Foreign Ministry due to high risk of attacks against Israelis abroad and antisemitism.
Second, the north and the south of the country are off limits to those not currently serving in the army. The south is an active war with rocket sirens blasting daily, and in the north Hezbollah is also firing rockets and the IDF has established a security zone where civilians cannot enter. This means that Israelis are stuck hovering in the center.
Finally, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been uprooted from their homes due to the war and are staying in hotels across Israel, including many tens of thousands in the center. This also means that hotels that families would otherwise stay out are occupied by those currently living in the hotels.
With all of this compounded, Israelis are experiencing some of the worst traffic they have ever seen, as everyone is cramming to visit the same places and travel the same roads.
“This is the price we have to pay in Israel, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else for the holidays,” Tamar concluded.
The post ‘I Wouldn’t Want to Be Anywhere Else’: Israelis Celebrate Hanukkah Amidst War with Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.