India, Oct. 9 -- Three years after the October 7 massacre, the last Israeli hostage is home, but Gaza lies devastated, while the region remains scarred and its future uncertain

Three years ago, on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages, the massacre changed the politics of the region. That massacre was a crime, and no grievance excuses it. For the first time, no Israeli hostage remains in Gaza on this anniversary. But what followed was not justice. It was the near-annihilation of Gaza and its people.

The numbers are hard to hold in the mind. Roughly 74,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry. About 80 per cent of structures are damaged. Most of the enclave'...