After 470 days of war that began with the horrific Hamas attack on October 7 and resulted in the decimation of Gaza by Israel, an agreement has finally been signed for a ceasefire and return of the Israeli hostages. As a former Melbourne high school teacher who has been living in Jerusalem for the past seven years, the ceasefire announcement filled me with a mixture of relief and trepidation.

In Jerusalem, I work as a journalist for The Jewish Independent and as the education director of Kids4Peace Jerusalem, an interfaith-dialogue youth movement for Israeli and Palestinian children. In both of my jobs, I have heard hundreds of stories about how this war has devastated lives. I have friends whose children were kidnapped from the Nova party and murdered in dark tunnels, and colleagues whose extended families were annihilated in devastating airstrikes on Gaza.

To ensure lasting peace, both sides must make every effort not to dehumanise each other.Credit: Getty Images

The question of how to ensure Israelis and Palestinians never endure such horror again consumes me daily. While I have no political power, or the ear of anyone who does, what I can offer to this situation is my insight from experiencing and facilitating thousands of hours of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. These encounters have taught me........

© The Sydney Morning Herald