I agree with everything you say here. I also feel there are many other highly regrettable decisions on Israel's part that allowed Hamas to grow, to destroy Gazan society, and to turn the enclave into a terror factory. But certainly, if we could turn back the clock on this war and have put a deal to retrieve the hostages before any military operations, we would all be in a far better position than we are in now. It's nauseating to think abut now.

At the same time, Gaza's position as a largely indoctrinated society of Jew-hate had to be faced. But that should have been approached as separate to the hostage crisis and to have at least attempted talks before any military offensive.