For Netanyahu, securing the freedom of hostages comes with painful personal memories. In 1976, his older brother was killed rescuing hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda, an action the younger Netanyahu said shaped his future life.
Here is a preliminary list of people who have not been accounted for. If you know where they are call 105.
The shock is that much greater when we realize that what it means: that the very party with which we hope to reconcile, with whom we aspire to at least reach an arrangement, that we very much want to believe will be deep down a rational and sensible actor – who ostensibly puts the welfare of its people first – is actually a retaliatory murderous entity defined by bloodlust.
An Ofakim family who had to hide indoors for 24 hours while Hamas terrorists roamed the streets, an Ashkelon man whose home was hit by a rocket, and an Israeli father who goes from hospital to hospital searching for his missing son share their stories.
Netanyahu vows to continue the offensive "without reservation and without respite." An Israeli military official says "hundreds of terrorists" have been killed and dozens captured in fighting in Gaza and southern Israel. At least 44 Israeli soldiers have been killed by Hamas.
