♪ when it's time to run light me up and let me burn ♪ ♪ ♪ yeah let me burn ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, the forever war? as war between israel and hamas rages on, the white house saying serious negotiations are under way for a new cease-fire.

can israel and hamas ever achieve peace? veteran journalist john donvan digs into the archive. >> now some of the people who live here say it may have been too much to expect real peace so soon. >> byron: to find the forgotten moments where hope actually existed in the israeli/palestinian conflict. >> we say to you today in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough. >> byron: a businessman who once dreamed of a prosperous gaza. >> it's got the potential. >> where is he today? adam driver. the "star wars" star in the driver's seat for ferrari. >> two objects cannot occupy the same point in space. >> byron: how he channeled the legendary head of the high-performance auto >> shooting about enzo a pressure. >> byron: the former marine opening up about how far he's come. >> did you dream you'd be here

where you are now? >> byron: and why "ferrari" is about more than fast cars. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain. vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain. theo's nose was cause for alarm, so dad brought puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. puffs has 50% more lotion and brings soothing relief. don't get burned by winter nose. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue.

♪ >> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight in gaza, the grim milestone. 20,000 dead according to the hamas-run gaza health ministry.

the war now stretching into a third month, and again the globe is fixated on the israel/hamas conflict. we wondered if looking back might give us some hope for the future in this fragile part of the world, so we turn to veteran abc and "nightline" correspondent john donvan, who spent four decades covering the region. >> reporter: when i see the pictures coming out of gaza right now, the raw violence and the pain and the sheer brutality of october 7th, and then the near-relentlessness of israel's response and the scale of it, the pictures tell a story of a conflict that seems destined to be eternal and utterly without hope. i can't help but also flash back to one of my own "nightline" reports from gaza many years ago. little-known fact, the beaches in gaza are beautiful, as are other parts of gaza. it's part of the story that almost always gets left out of reporting from gaza.

and then there was my main observation about the people i met there. if, like most palestinians, you don't give a damn about politics or power games and just want to know what it's like to feel normal someday -- normal is how it felt at that precise moment. but something else in the air, and it was important. >> as john donvan reports, some gazans are beginning to see a reason to hope again, and it's been a long time. >> hope, ted said, hope again. time has buried the memory, but hope once blossomed in the israel/palestinian conflict in a couple of waves. i first went to the middle east for abc in the early 1980s covering israel's war in lebanon. >> a year ago, the government promised the lebanon invasion would bring peace to this part of israel. now some of the people who live here say it may have been too much to expect real peace so soon. >> boy, i looked young. back then, there was also a whole set of other conflicts

globally that seemed as forever stuck as the israeli/palestinian conflict. so the cold war was never going to end. >> u.s./soviet relations are clearly have you evering. >> the berlin wall was going to be there forever. in northern ireland -- >> the irish fighters and irish civilians, catholic and protestant, who have died, number almost 2,000. >> south africa. >> the simmering racial extensions in south africa exploded again today, bringing death and injury. >> these conflicts were fixtures of history, they seemed eternal. except they weren't. and i was really lucky to be there for a lot of it. >> now that gorbachev is gone, yeltsin will get more of the blame for the mess this country is in. >> they all turned around. >> the historic peace agreement in northern ireland is one day old. >> they all broke open. >> i have committed myself to the promotion of peace in the country. >> and each one of these things felt like global miracles.

which left the israeli/palestinian conflict. yes, something was happening there too. >> welcome to this great occasion of history and hope. >> outside the white house, 1993, the leader of the palestine liberation organization, yasser arafat, and israel'si, itzhak rabin, with bill clinton mediating. >> we bid them shalom, salaam, peace. >> this line from rabin's speech became famous. >> we who have fought against you, the palestinians, we say to you today in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears. enough. >> and then clinton strongarms them into the photo that said the impossible was now possible. it really felt like the engine

had kick-started for the eventual creation of a palestinian state that israel was going to accept. it was like the first big wave of hope. i went to gaza at this point. >> there are palestinians who envision a someday prosperous gaza as a kind of hong kong on the mediterranean. >> i followed a 32-year-old palestinian man who had just given up being a lawyer to be a police officer in the newly created palestinian authority, the p.a. >> for this supporter of pla yasser arafat, it's important to show palestinians that those in authority now are also palestinians. >> but -- there was a but. >> but when he walked us through the streets of the refugee cavern he grew up in, he showed us problems with no overnight solutions. open sewers running between houses where people sometimes live ten too a room. neighbors said if there's one thing yasser arafat must fix,

it's the economy. >> a decade goes by, a lot of bad things happen. >> israeli prime minister rabin was shot at a progovernment rally in tel aviv. reports now that he has died. >> a giant question mark now hangs over that region of the world. yasser arafat died last night. >> the palestinian authority proves itself corrupt and incompetent and autocratic. the economy isn't fixed. and israel still occupies, especially in the form of 21 settlements that are more like 21 israeli towns spread across gaza, protecting them, keeps the israeli army present. and obviously no palestinian state is coming into existence. all of which totally destroys the hope that had been there. and it fuels the second intefadeh, the palestinian resistance campaign of terrorist attacks against civilians, mostly civilians, inside israel. >> one of the deadliest suicide bombings in israel in years. >> the palestinian blew himself up on an israeli bus.

>> that in turn destroyed most israelis' hope that the palestinians ever wanted coexistence. at that low point, 2005, back in gaza, august, it is turmoil. >> the army stormed in. cutting through glass doors, soldiers encountered a mass of protesters, armed links together. they had to pry them apart one by one. >> what is going on there is that israel was now abandoning gaza altogether. just leaving. emptying out those 21 towns, by force if necessary. >> on the roof of that settlement's synagogue, they pelted police with paint and eggs and flour. the police fired back and hoisted men onto the roof. >> their passions were authentic. many people told me they believed that god gave gaza toss jews. >> what i know is that god wants us to be here. everybody has their own identity, and they have to be

themselves. and the jewish people cannot be a nation like all other nations because they aren't. >> others like raheli who lived in a settlement her entire life, and she was not fighting the withdrawal. she was, nevertheless, heartbroken about it. >> i just packed in two days 20 years. you can't pack memories. >> all in all, israel's disengagement from gaza wasn't a gesture of peace. but for the palestinians, the second wave of hope comes to gaza. that first day after the withdrawal, it felt like a celebration. there was also a sense of excitement in being unoccupied in the most literal sense for the first time in 37 years. i want to reintroduce a guy i introduced in 2005, basel alwehia. he had a vision. >> i'm focusing right now on the amusement park.

>> take one of the settlements that's been left behind and turn it into an amusement park? >> yes. >> he owned a couple of restaurants and he built two hotels. the guy is an optimist. >> tourism is the answer? >> in gaza, i've always dreamed tourism should play an important role in the economic future of the gaza strip. and i do believe that it's got a potential. it's got a potential. >> what's it got? >> it's got the beaches. >> oh, those beaches again. but not a lot of tourists made it to gaza, then or since. and peace never got any closer. indeed, the signals for future conflict were strong there already. a parade in gaza city celebrating israeli withdrawal. >> you think the resistance is at least part of the reason the israelis are leaving? >> absolutely, for sure, you know. the resistance,

>> there were the billboards, my producer explained to me. and all of this was against the reality that israel still controlled so much. in 2006 in gaza's free and fair election, hamas wins big and eventually takes power, swearing to wipe israel off the map. >> it is arafat's notoriously corrupt party the palestinians threw out yesterday in favor of hamas, which, while caring for the palestinian poor with one hand, blows up israeli buses with the other. >> so with hamas elected, israel stopped virtually all cooperation and set up the blockade. in the years since, the hope that had flashed there briefly was buried deeper and deeper into memory so that it's hard to believe it was ever real. basel, the businessman with his

big dreams, he hold on to them. he opened a rooftop restaurant in a highrise tower. in 2018, the bbc caught up with him. >> people in gaza love to live their lives. it helps us, being alive. >> we have not been able to reach basel now after weeks of trying. as for sammy, he's still in gaza, he's still reporting for abc news. >> there is -- heavy machine gun has been used against the people in khan younis -- >> he's been moving his family at least 17 times since the israel/hamas war began, desperate to keep them safe, desperate to keep them alive. >> my concern only how to protect my family from the war. my kids, they consider me that i'm shelter for them, and i'm not. >> all of this happening in a place where hope really

blossomed once. twice. at least. which seems hard to picture now. just as it's hard to think of a leader who right now is going to say, enough of blood and tears. >> byron: someday. our thanks to john. when we come back, adam driver takes the wheel as enzo ferrari. when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis takes you off course. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief and helped leave bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc tried to slow me down... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc caused damage rinvoq came through by visibly repairing my colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief... lasting steroid-free remission... ...and the chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check, check, and check.

rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq and learn how abbvie can help you save.

from the state that's already helped millions of people like you get and pay for health insurance. with financial health to lower the cost of health coverage, you could get a quality health plan for less than $10 a month. every plan covers preventive care, doctor visits, emergency care, and more. if you have questions, we're here to help every step of the way. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by december 31 at coveredca.com.

♪ >> byron: adam driver has been called his generation's most

sought-after leading man, known for his focus and dedication to his craft. abc's rhiannon ally sat down with the star to talk about his latest role as enzo ferrari, a man known for the same kind of perfectionism. here's a look at the film and their conversation on the other side. >> what goes on in your mind? he got sick. dystrophy. kidneys. they destroyed him! they destroyed us! >> what do you care, you have another son, you have another wife. >> she's not my wife, but he is my son. >> adam driver, welcome to "nightline," so nice to have you. >> thank you so much for having me. >> we're here to talk about "ferrari." you play enzo ferrari in this film. you're also an executive producer of it as well. tell us about the film, tell us why this project means so much to you. >> initially it was because michael mann, who directed this, i love his films. this one, he'd been trying to make for something like 25 years. i love that the character himself was someone who was full

of contradictions, that a lot of those contradictions aren't resolved. he's not necessarily a likeable person, which i think -- likeability is uninteresting. playing someone who is calm on the surface but kind of constantly had an engine going and was different with every person he interacted with was all -- i fell in love with that, that story. >> he definitely was a complicated man. >> am i a sportsman or a competitor? >> i thought you made him likeable. >> right, thank you. thank you. >> is it hard to play a real-life person like this? is it more difficult? how do you prepare for that versus a fictional character? >> different boundaries. playing real people, you kind of take the parts about them that open up your imagination and help with the scenes that you're playing. i will say the shooting a movie about enzo ferrari in modena, the place where it happened, the locations where it happened, adds extra pressure. you want to do it right. >> the shots of italy are so beautiful. it really does feel like it's

almost a character in and of itself. how did you create that atmosphere? >> we didn't have to do much because it was in the place -- piero "girls," you did the "star wars" trilogy as well. you were on broadway. you just hosted "snl." do you prefer performing in front of a live audience? do you prefer shooting films? will we see you back on broadway? >> i might do another play. that was my background. i went to juilliard for acting, four-year conservatory. i love theater. it's live. the heartbreaking thing about film is you did it, they'll capture one moment of it. i know from doing plays that you run a play seven shows, eight

shows a week for four months, always the last performance is the best because you found the most economical way to do the part or a question you hadn't asked yourself earlier in the run. film, you don't have that luxury. you're making decisions impulsively that will last forever. but i like both. i love "saturday night live." i love how it feels like theater, it's live. >> beep beep! >> just going to go right in there? >> beep beep. >> the stakes are high and it feels alive. >> you mentioned juilliard. before that, you were a marine. >> yeah. >> thinking back to those moments when you were in school or even when you were serving our country, did you ever dream that you'd be here where you are now? >> not at all. none of my family, in the perform is arts -- they're very creative and artistic, but the idea that i would have a prominent role with some of the directors that inspired me to want to be an actor or scenes with actors are also real.

>> you knew movie "ferrari" comes out christmas day. does that make it more special? do you have big plans for the holiday release? >> to gather all my family and go see "ferrari." apart from that, nothing. no, christmas is my favorite time of year. also because you're home. and i like being home more and more, you know, especially with kids and christmas. it is special, this movie in particular. i'm really passionate about it because of how unique it is. and that it's a character-driven story. so to be doing that with michael here in new york, you know, it's all too many things to take in. >> thank you so much, adam driver. the movie is fantastic. >> thank you. >> byron: our thanks to rhiannon. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight.

in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. living with type 2 diabetes? ask about the power of 3 with ozempic®. skin-carving next level hydration? new neutrogena hydro boost water cream. a vital boost of nine times more hydration* to boost your skin's barrier for quenched,

dewy skin that's full of life. neutrogena. hydro boost. (♪) honey... honey... dayquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu symptom relief with a honey-licious taste. because life doesn't stop for a cold. dayquil honey, the daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, honey-licious, power through your day, medicine.

♪ >> byron: that's "nightline" for this evening. watch full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.