Israelis and Palestinians who lost family band together to promote an end to the violence

By Chris Zimmerman, PLOUGH, April 1, 2026

n the fateful morning of October 7, 2023, a surprise attack carried out by Hamas left more than a thousand Israelis dead and some 250 taken hostage, setting off a military counterattack on Gaza that has left it in ruins and claimed an estimated 72,000 Palestinian lives. Ever since then, it has been almost impossible to say anything about the situation in the region without upsetting somebody. But that has not deterred Parents Circle – Families Forum. A nonprofit that brings together bereaved families from both sides of the conflict, PCFF has never stopped speaking out and working toward a peaceful future. Indeed, its members argue, such a path is not only possible but the only viable way forward.

Started by Yitzhak Frankenthal, an Israeli Jew, in 1995 after his son Arik, an IDF soldier, was killed by Hamas, PCFF limits membership to Israelis and Palestinians who have lost immediate family members to violence in the region. Since October 2023, at least eighty new families have joined this club no one wanted to be a part of. The group’s effectiveness arises from the shared perspectives of fellow sufferers bound by the knowledge that they have all paid the same terrible price.