One year in, war casts a shadow over every aspect of life in Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — At a busy Tel Aviv entertainment district, diners spill into outdoor seating and clink glasses as music fills the air. There’s laughter, there’s life. But all around the patrons, staring down from lampposts and shop windows, are pictures of hostages held in Gaza, stark reminders that Israel is at war and forever scarred by the deadliest attack in its history.

As Israel's war with Hamas reaches its one-year mark, it can seem on the surface that much of life in the country has returned to normal. But with many still reeling from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, hostages remaining in captivity and a new front of warwith Hezbollah in the north, many Israelis feel depressed, despondent and angry as the war stretches into its second year.

Uncertainty over the future has cast a pall over virtually every part of daily life, even as people try to maintain a sense of normalcy.

“The conversation about the situation is always there," said activist Zeev Engelmayer, whose daily postcard project featuring illustrations of hostages or Israel's new reality has become a fixture at anti-war protests. "Even those who are sitting in coffee shops, they’re talking about it, in every single situation I see it. It’s impossible to get away from it. It has entered into every vibration of our life.”

Hamas' attack in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped shattered Israelis’ sense of security and stability in their homeland.

Many have been rattled by the war's evolution. Nearly 100 hostages remain in Gaza, with less than 70 believed to be alive. Israelis have experienced attacks — missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, explosive drones from Yemen, fatal shootings and stabbings — as the region braces for further escalation.

They've watched as Israel is accused of committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza and becomes increasingly isolated internationally.

“I’m almost 80 — we grew up in this country with a feeling that we have short wars, and we win them quickly,” said Israeli historian Tom Segev, who described new feelings of utter hopelessness. “We’re not used to a long war.”

Israelis have long harbored a sense that their country, born of the Holocaust's ashes and surviving a panoply of regional threats, is a success story, Segev said. They've strived, he added, for a normality akin to that of European and North American people, though their reality for decades has been anything but.

“I think that history is going backward,” he said of the past year. “Everything we have achieved on our way to becoming a normal state isn’t happening.”

Reminders are everywhere. At a Hebrew University graduation in Jerusalem, a large yellow ribbon was placed in front of the stage. A graduate who didn't attend because his brother was killed in Gaza the previous day was honored.

Israel's longstanding internal divisions briefly eased in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack, but have only intensified since. Weekly protests calling for a cease-fire deal that would free hostages are attended mostly by secular Jewish Israelis who oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

According to a September poll by Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute, 61 percent of right-wing Jewish Israelis — Netanyahu's base — support the war continuing.

Occupied with their own trauma, most Israelis paid scant attention to the ongoing destruction in Gaza, even as the Health Ministry there put the Palestinian death toll at more than 41,000. Israeli media have reported little on the devastation. Israelis calling for a cease-fire are driven overwhelmingly by the hostages' plight.

Many Israelis are furious at leaders and the military for not preventing Hamas’ attack. Tens of thousands of people are expected at an alternative ceremony marking one year since then, as a statement against the government's official commemoration. The state ceremony is being prerecorded without a live audience, in part because of fears of heckling and disruptions.

“The thing we lost on Oct. 7 — and we haven’t gotten it back — is our feeling of security,” Muli Segev, executive producer of "Eretz Nehederet," a popular sketch comedy show. “Despite everything, we have been able to create a life here that’s pretty open and Western.

"Especially in Tel Aviv, we go about our lives, and we don’t think about the fact that our lives are really just pauses between wars and between explosions of violence."

In the war's early months, the show's sketches were gentler, focusing on what united Israeli society, such as the massive civilian volunteer response. Over time, they featured more pointed satire, including a reimagining of negotiations if the hostages were Israeli politicians' children — released in less than two hours.

Parts of life have rebounded — beaches full of people, bustling cafes, concerts and sports back on schedules. But residents also check for the nearest bomb shelter, deal with school cancellations when violence flares up, and avoid domestic travel hubs that are now off-limits. Heartbreaking news arrives regularly, including the deaths of six hostages in August.

“It’s a nightmare; we’re just getting used to it,” said Maya Brandwine, a 33-year-old graphic designer who witnessed the Jaffa shooting that killed seven on Tuesday. “I have so little hope. I’m sure the situation will only get worse.”

Dror Rotches, a 47-year-old graphic designer, said from a Tel Aviv coffee shop: “We try to go out when we can, meet friends and try to forget for a few hours. Then we go home and keep slogging through the mud.”

Others simply can't return home. More than 60,000 from Israel's northern border with Lebanon are displaced. Thousands from the southern towns ransacked Oct. 7 are in temporary housing. Tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are serving their second or third tour of duty, straining their families and jobs.

“As the war goes on and on and we can’t see the end, there’s also a type of very large worry over the future, and, for some, if there is even a future here,” Muli Segev said.

Cafe Otef seems like any of Tel Aviv's ubiquitous coffee shops: Patrons laugh and sip specialty coffee beside a playground; light rock music plays. But next to the sandwiches and cakes are chocolates made from the recipes of Dvir Karp, who was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, and cheeses from Kibbutz Be’eri, where more than 100 died and 30 were taken hostage. Totes and T-shirts for sale declare “We shall thrive again.”

The cafe, named for the region next to the Gaza border, is run by residents of Re'im, one of the kibbutzes struck. It's the second shop in the new chain, each aiming to support people of a southern Israeli town where lives were upended.

“The war still continues for almost a year, and I feel that if we won’t live, we will die,” said Reut Karp, cafe owner and Dvir's ex-wife. She lives with most of her kibbutz in temporary housing nearby.

The cafe gives her purpose as her community deals with trauma and the uncertainty of returning home. While it's strange to see people flowing through the doors, going about life as normal, she and the staff have found comfort in the routine.

“We must take ourselves out of bed and continue to live and to work and to have the hope," Karp said. "Because without this hope, we don’t have anything.”

A worker cleans the floor at an exhibition by Israeli graffiti artist Benzi Brofman that displays portraits of the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, in Jerusalem, Sunday, Sept.29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Women walk past graffiti calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip for nearly a year, in the Carmel market Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People walk next to the market stand belonging to Elkana Bohbot, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival and has not been released from Gaza in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 27, 2024.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People listen to Israeli singer Yoni Bloch, who has written new songs about the current war, in concert at a record store in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An off-duty Israeli soldier carrying her M-16 rifle walks down the street in Tel Aviv Israel, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Young people chat in the rear of a car in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A man stands at the entrance to his empty souvenir shop in the Carmel market in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People travel by light rail in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A soldier and a woman wait at a bus stop next to a bomb shelter in the town of Sderot, southern Israel, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An off-duty Israeli soldier carrying his M-16 rifle walks past posters calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, Friday, Sept.13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A couple rides a bicycle near a yellow ribbon sign calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group for nearly a year, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Signs calling for the return of hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza are displayed during a match of the Hapoel Jerusalem soccer team in Jerusalem on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Signs calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip are plastered on trees in Tel Aviv's beach, Israel, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People sit in a bar near a sign calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group for nearly a year, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People pass by a sign calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas for nearly a year, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — Bronny James played in his first NBA preseason game Friday night, but LeBron James wasn't in uniform with him when the Lakers hosted Minnesota in the first of Los Angeles' two weekend games in the Coachella Valley.

Lakers coach JJ Redick elected to hold out LeBron James against the Timberwolves after three hard days of training camp, but the 39-year-old top scorer in NBA history is likely to play against Phoenix on Sunday — which just happens to be Bronny's 20th birthday.

Bronny James finished with two points in the Lakers’ 124-107 loss to the Timberwolves, missing his first five shots before making a layup with 56.9 seconds to play. But the 6-foot-2 guard also blocked three shots, and he picked up one rebound and one assist while playing the first half of the second quarter and most of the fourth.

Before they become the first father and son to play in the same NBA game, Bronny James knows he has plenty of work to do. He got his first chance to play in Lakers gold when he took the floor to begin the second quarter at Acrisure Arena outside Palm Springs.

Playing alongside starting Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell, Bronny got caught on a pick on his first defensive possession, allowing Rob Dillingham to hit an open 3-pointer. Bronny's pass was then intercepted by Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the other end, but Bronny hustled back and blocked his layup attempt.

Bronny missed all three of his shots during his first six minutes of action, including a 3-pointer. He picked up an assist when he found Rui Hachimura for a 3-pointer from the corner on a fast break.

Bronny returned for the start of the fourth quarter, missing a jumper and having a layup attempt blocked. In the final minute, he got a pass from fellow rookie Dalton Knecht and looped a layup over a defender for his first points.

LeBron appeared to be keeping a mindful distance from Bronny during the game, allowing his oldest son to focus on his job. But LeBron spoke at length to Bronny during a timeout halfway through the second quarter, explaining something with hand gestures while Bronny nodded.

Bronny James was the Lakers’ second-round draft pick, and he played in summer league in Las Vegas. He is expected to play for the Lakers in the preseason before spending a significant portion of the upcoming regular season with the G League’s South Bay Lakers.

“Of course there’s nerves,” Bronny said after the Lakers’ pregame shootaround. “But I’m just excited to go out there and learn from the people playing in front of me, and if I get a chance to showcase what I can do, I’m going to do that.”

As is typical for inactive players, LeBron largely stayed away from the Lakers' huddles. He mostly stood on the perimeter during timeouts with Anthony Davis, who also sat out the preseason opener. Both superstars have been at training camp in El Segundo.

“We felt like, given everything they had this summer, and their level of participation over the past three days, it made the most sense for them to get an off day today,” Redick said. “We told them at shootaround to just stay off their feet.”

Redick said Thursday that both LeBron James and Davis will play in at least one game this weekend. Max Christie and Jaxson Hayes started in the superstars’ place against Minnesota alongside Russell, Hachimura and Austin Reaves.

Friday's crowd didn't seem disappointed as it poured into the 22-month-old arena that serves at the home of the American Hockey League's Coachella Valley Firebirds. Hundreds of fans in gold Lakers jerseys representing everyone from James to George Mikan rushed into the building and down the stairs in the lower bowl for an up-close look at the pregame warmups.

“The beautiful thing about the Lakers is that we have fans all over the world,” Redick said. “The desert over here is an extension, I think in some ways, of our fan base in LA. It's a great opportunity for our group to play in front of these fans tonight.”

James and Davis are sitting out the first of the Lakers' six preseason games as they ease back into competition after a busy summer. They joined the Lakers before the game in street clothes.

LeBron and Davis were both on the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, and they walked to midcourt right before tipoff to greet Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, their Olympic teammate.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, right, tries to shoot as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham defends during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James shoots and misses during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James stands on the court during introductions prior to a preseason NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, right, runs to the other end of the court as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham watches during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, center, shoots as Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, right, defends during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, center, shoots as Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, right, defends during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

CORRECTS TO PALM DESERT, CALIF., NOT LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, right, shoots as Minnesota Timberwolves center Luka Garza defends during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, greets his son, Bronny James as Bronny comes off the court during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, and his son, Bronny James, pose for photos during the NBA basketball team's media day in El Segundo, Calif., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)