NewsNation National Correspondent Robert Sherman has found himself on the frontlines of some of the world’s biggest stories: from Ukraine to Israel and across the United States. He shares what he’s seeing on the ground. Subscribe to his newsletter: Frontlines with Robert Sherman here.

This morning I am writing to you from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

I am sitting on the lawn of a courtyard separating half a dozen homes. The birds are scenically chirping as small wildlife critters hop around. If you close your eyes and take it all in, it’s a small slice of serenity.

But then you open your eyes and reality sets in. There is a home right in front of me scorched from the inside as its melted metal awning droops down. There are spray paint markings on the front of the house left behind by the search-and-rescue crews to signify bodies were found inside.

Down the road, there is a memorial taking place for those killed and taken hostage, the chorus of mourners at times drowned out by what one local referred to as “the symphony of war.” That would be the sound of jets, artillery and machines guns rattling nearby.

Kibbutz Nir Oz before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack was a community of less than 400 people. About a quarter of the population there was killed or taken hostage that day. Twenty-nine are still being held in Gaza.

You may recall from the early days of the war one of the few pieces of good news Israel received: a pair of elderly hostages were released in October.

One of them was Yocheved Lifshitz, who was taken from Nir Oz by bike and held in Hamas’ tunnels, which she described as being like a “spider web.”

She returned to Israel that day. Her husband, Oded, is still in Gaza. We spoke with their grandson Monday on “Morning in America.”

You can watch that interview here.

There is palpable pain on the ground here. Families are broken. Closure has not been attained. As I wrote previously, the feeling here is that one year has passed since Oct. 7, but Oct. 8 has not yet arrived. We’ll be sharing the stories of those caught right in the middle of Oct. 7 throughout the day on NewsNation. 

Additionally, one year later, there is still a big question many are asking: How could this have possibly happened? Especially considering mere weeks ago Israeli intelligence pulled off an astonishing feat as they detonated Hezbollah pagers across Lebanon that injured and exposed their members.

Yet one year ago, Hamas was able to overwhelm Israel’s air defense systems and enter the country on bikes, trucks and homemade gliders. How could they not see it coming and, perhaps more pointedly, is Israel ready for the next attempt?

We spoke with a former member of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence agency, who thinks Israel is susceptible to the mistakes of the past.

But amid all the failures, the destruction and the chaos, there are individual stories of heroism. When the sirens first went off, retired Gen. Noam Tibon hopped in his car and drove south with one mission in mind: to save his family.

Those are just some of the stories we’ll be sharing with you on NewsNation throughout the day.

My biggest takeaway is this: I arrived in Israel back on Oct. 8, 2023. I remember the fear on the ground. The uncertainty that was ever-present. No one knew what the world would look like one year later.

Today, there’s been a year of fighting. There are multiple fronts open. There’s an impending response to Iran’s missile attack this week.

And despite all we’ve seen and witnessed over the last year, I have no idea what the future holds or the coming days will bring.

But I’m far from alone on that one.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.