One year on from the devastating Oct. 7 attacks on Israel's border communities and the brutal ensuing war in Gaza, Al-Monitor is marking the anniversary with special coverage. It includes interviews with prominent Palestinian and Israeli figures along with reports from Gaza, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the only way to bring back the more than 100 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip is by reaching an agreement that would see a cease-fire in the enclave, the deployment of international troops to protect Israel from future Hamas attacks and the establishment of a local administration in Gaza linked to the Palestinian Authority.

On July 17, Olmert, together with Palestinian politician and nephew of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat Nasser al-Kidwa, formulated a proposal for ending the Gaza war and for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and published it at the end of August. The plan is based, among other things, on talks Olmert conducted with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas while serving as prime minister from January 2006 until March 2009 representing the centrist Kadima party, as well as his subsequent consultations with Palestinian officials over the years. 

After leaving office, Olmert went back to working in business, published a memoir and has been giving talks and interviews on the two-state solution.