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ALBANY, NY — Congressman Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) today released the following statement marking one year since the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7th, 2023:

One year ago today, Hamas initiated a terrorist attack against the people of Israel, killing more than 1,200 and abducting hundreds more from their beds and from a music festival in the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. I firmly condemn that terrorist action.

For one year, the families and loved ones of the Israeli hostages have been living an unfathomable nightmare.

Since that attack, we have also witnessed unprecedented anguish in Gaza, with tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians killed, and countless more left orphaned, childless, or without homes. This conflict has now expanded to bombings in Lebanon that have resulted in hundreds more deaths, as well as Iranian bombings against Israel.

This cycle of violence serves no one and nothing other than inflicting further death and devastation. It must end.

I continue to raise my voice with countless others in a call for longstanding peace and an immediate and permanent ceasefire. A ceasefire is the only path forward to put a stop to this terrible bloodshed, to end the bombings in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, to prevent further escalation of a broader war, to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, and to finally bring the remaining Israeli hostages abducted one year ago home to their families.

I’m continuing to urge all parties to come to the table to negotiate a ceasefire, and I will continue to work with those who are pursuing that path towards lasting peace.

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