Israel’s 9/11. A Horrific Day.

I always turn off my phone at night.

Last night, before lights out, I checked the news, as I always do. A few stray rockets were reported to have been launched by Hamas at Israeli communities on the Gaza border. Sadly, that is not cause for alarm. It is a pretty regular occurrence.

I was awakened, early, and told that Israel was at war. I checked my phone and it practically exploded with unread messages. My daughter is there. Friends. Family. We all know people in the army, we know of people taken hostages, murdered, terrorized. So many messages asking for information about loved ones. The savagery unleashed by Hamas is surreal. It took hours to begin to process the magnitude of this demonic attack on civilians.

The sadistic videos taken of screaming children asking their mother if they were going to be killed. Asking what the Hamas terrorists wanted. I have been on the phone and WhatsApp all day. It is impossible to describe the extreme shock, rage, dismay.

Here is a piece that I dashed off for Canada’s National Post newspaper today. This is just the beginning of what I fear will be a long and brutal conflict. I have so much to say but for today am focusing on the barbarism and the victims.

I just learned that among the civilian hostages force marched from their homes into the Gaza Strip is a 90-year-old woman. She is the aunt of the Minister of Defense. God help her and all of these victims. There are babies. Children.

It is beyond horrific.

Tonight my phone will be on.