“War is hell,” Union Gen. William T. Sherman once observed during the Civil War.

It has remained an apt description of the terror and agony that conflict produces, and it certainly applies to what is happening in Ukraine, and now in Israel and Gaza.

We can only grieve the widespread suffering and death that has resulted from the eruption of war between Israel and the Hamas organization based in Gaza.

Like many, we condemn the hate-filled Hamas force for launching on Oct. 7 a surprise barrage of rockets on Israeli communities along with a short-lived, but brutal assault that left 1,000 civilians dead.

Likewise, we mourn the loss of 900 civilian lives in Gaza from Israel’s counteroffensive.

Along with those killed, thousands have been wounded on both sides. The vast majority of the victims of this conflict are civilians, including many women and children, and these numbers are rising by the hour.

Knowing there are 150 hostages in Gaza haunts us. We read about or watch on television a panicked woman being dragged off by militants on a motorcycle, a terrified mother, wrapped in a blanket, clasping her two young children.

Eli Elbag had tried for 12 hours to contact his soldier daughter Liri, 18, who was training to be a lookout at the Gaza border, reports the Associated Press. A video showed her “crowded into the back seat of an Israeli military truck that militants had commandeered, sitting next to two other hostages, one with blood covering his face.”

Mr. Elbag said he understands the Israeli operation but remains concerned for Liri’s safety. “Nobody,” he told the AP, “can understand what we are feeling.”