War is horrific. It costs lives. It creates trauma. It is a last resort. The war between Israel and Hamas is no different.

Israel did not choose this war however. It was thrust upon the nation in the most brutal fashion imaginable on October 7. That day, as Hamas unleashed a torrent of terror that claimed innocent lives, the abstract specter of war manifested as a visceral imperative: defend or be destroyed. The choice was, and remains, stark.