Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year took Israel back to “square zero,” a senior official said on Monday on the first anniversary of the group’s deadly storming of southern Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.“Al-Aqsa flood returned the occupation to square zero and threatened its existence,” Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas, said in a televised speech, using the group’s name for the attack.For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page.Last year’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.At least 41,870 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.Meshaal said last year’s October 7 attack was “a natural response to