An off-duty police officer on medical leave, scheduled for shoulder surgery, whose leave lasted only until the call of October 7, 2023, when militants struck across southern Israel. Family members and neighbours called him “the Defender of Alumim” — a young man who raced toward danger rather than away from it. It carried the remains of the last Israeli hostage to be recovered from Gaza — a grim punctuation to a hostages chapter that has shadowed Israeli life for years. International human rights groups and humanitarian organizations warn that rebuilding must go hand in hand with justice and protection. And for the rest of us, this moment can be a reminder of how every headline is made of human lives.