What Israel lost in the Hamas attack

It is impossible to exaggerate the magnitude of the physical and emotional blow suffered by Israel as a result of last weekend’s strikes inflicted by Hamas, the extremist Palestinian armed organisation in charge of the Gaza Strip.

People outside the Middle East may blame both Israelis and Palestinians for repeated bouts of violence inflicted on each other. But for ordinary Israelis, the

machinegun mowing down of hundreds of young people attending an open-air pop concert,

the public desecration of the bodies of victims and the harrowing pictures of Israelis taken hostage – including a very elderly lady who survived the Holocaust – have shaken the country to the core.