After fighters killed his parents during Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, Maoz Inon vowed to reject revenge and choose a path of reconciliation — for his own healing and his country’s, AFP reports.

The 49-year-old is among thousands of Israelis now calling on the international community to formally recognise the State of Palestine ahead of a UN summit next week.

“By revenging the death, we are not going to bring them back to life. And we’re only going to escalate the cycle of violence, bloodshed, and revenge we’ve been trapped within, not since October 7, but for a century,” he said.

When Palestinian fighters attacked Israel, Inon said he “wasn’t surprised” after the years of “occupying, oppressing and walling between us and the other side”.

“I knew it’s going to explode in our face,” he told AFP in Tel Aviv. “I didn’t, in my worst nightmare, [think] I will pay the price.”