It was clear from the moment the news came in that we were about to witness a bloodbath.

For years, the Israeli government has made a habit of responding to provocations from Hamas — and even nonviolent protests by ordinary Palestinians pushing back against Israel’s occupation — with brutal force against innocent civilians. Since 2008’s Operation Cast Lead, the death toll of Palestinians and Israelis (before the latest casualties) is 6,407 to 308, respectively, according to UN statistics. That’s a staggering 21:1, a reflection not just of the vast gulf in military resources and support between the two, but the Israeli military’s indiscriminate bombardment of residential areas in Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated areas.

There was no doubt we would see something still worse in the wake of Hamas’s latest attack, which was unprecedented in its severity. This weekend saw the group that governs Gaza breach the border and assault more than twenty locations in southern Israel, murdering more than two hundred concertgoers at a nearby festival, killing civilians in scores of towns, and taking as many as 150 hostages, including children. The Israeli death toll sits at at least 1,200, with 2,400 wounded, a horrific loss of life.