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PHOTOS: Israel at war

International News Editor Michael K. Lavers was on assignment in the country last month

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The Pride House of Be’er Sheva in Be'er Sheva, Israel, on Oct. 9, 2024. The banner on the gate reads, "Get them out of hell!" in reference to the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Washington Blade was on assignment in Israel from Oct. 4-14, 2024. 

The Blade covered the first anniversary of Oct. 7, and interviewed the cousin of a woman who Hamas militants killed after they kidnapped her and her sister-in-law. The Blade also interviewed the widow of a gay Israel Defense Forces soldier who spearheaded efforts to amend the country’s Bereaved Families Law to recognize LGBTQ widows and widowers of fallen servicemembers.

Activists in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva also spoke with the Blade.

Destroyed homes in the outskirts of Khan Younis, Gaza, in January 2024. (Courtesy photo)
Layla, a gay bar in Tel Aviv, in an Instagram post for an Oct. 1 party notes the Israel Defense Forces are “demilitarizing Lebanon.” The promotion includes a picture of long-time Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who the IDF killed in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh less than a week earlier. Iran on Oct. 1 launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel in response to Nasrallah’s death. (Photo courtesy of Layla’s Instagram page)
A public art display at Ben-Gurion Airport on Oct. 4, 2024, demands the release of the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A mural in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 4, 2024.(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A boy plays a piano in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 4, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 4, 2024. (Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)

The Blade could not access Al Jazeera’s website in Israel. 

The Israeli government in May banned the Qatar-based network from working in the country, and shut down its bureaus in East Jerusalem and Nazareth, a predominantly Arab city in northern Israel. A judge in June extended the ban for 45 days. Israeli soldiers on Sept. 22 raided Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah, the Palestinian capital, and ordered its closure for 45 days. (Washington Blade screenshot by Michael K. Lavers)

An Israeli Pride flag flies next to a banner on a terrace in Tel Aviv, Israel, that calls for the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Hilton Beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 5, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A bomb shelter near Be’eri, Israel, on Oct. 5, 2024. Hamas militants on Oct. 7 killed three people from the nearby Nova Music Festival who took shelter inside. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Part of the makeshift Nova Music Festival memorial near Re’im, Israel, on Oct. 5, 2024. Hamas militants on Oct. 7 killed 360 people at the all-night rave and took 40 other partygoers hostage. The Nova Music Festival took place roughly three miles from the Israel-Gaza border. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
The Nova Music Festival memorial. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Cats in Independence Park in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 6, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A mural in Tel Aviv, Israel, notes Hamas is still holding Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel, hostage in Gaza. Kfir was 9-months-old on Oct. 7. His brother was 4-years-old. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
An anti-war sticker on a light pole in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 6, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
KAN 11, an Israeli television station, broadcasts from Kfar Aza, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2024. The kibbutz is one of the many kibbutzim near the Israel-Gaza border that Hamas militants attacked on Oct. 7. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A juice stand at the intersection of Dizengoff Street and Ben-Gurion Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Two men in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, embrace while watching the Bereaved Families Memorial Service on Oct. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
‘Red alerts’ for ballistic missiles that Hezbollah launched from Lebanon on Oct. 7, 2024. The missiles targeted an Israel Defense Forces base north of Tel Aviv. The IDF interceptions woke this reporter up at around 11 p.m. (Washington Blade screenshot by Michael K. Lavers)
Yarmulkes for sale in Jerusalem on Oct. 8, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Dome of the Rock above the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Oct. 8, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Omer Ohana looks a picture of his fiancé, Sagi Golan, a gay Israel Defense Forces major who died fighting Hamas militants in Be’eri, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023, A memorial service for Golan took place in Herzliya, Israel, on Oct. 8, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A billboard overlooking the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu references Oct. 7 and says, “We won’t forget.” (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
The Pride House of Be’er Sheva in Be’er Sheva, Israel, on Oct. 9, 2024. The banner on the gate reads, “Get them out of hell!” in reference to the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Street art in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
A poster with Carmel Gat‘s face on it inside a replica of a tunnel in the Gaza Strip that was built in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hamas militants on Oct. 7 kidnapped Gat from Be’eri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border. They killed her and five other hostages in late August. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Shortly after dawn in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 12, 2024, as the country marked Yom Kippur. (Video by Michael K. Lavers)
Banners that hung from an overpass above the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 12, 2024, contain pictures of the hostages who remain in Gaza. They also call for their release and “bringing back hope.” (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Fishermen along the Jaffa waterfront in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 12, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
The sun sets over Hilton Beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
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