Never will I forget visiting a kibbutz in southern Israel called Kfar Aza, “Gaza Village” in Hebrew. At the time, I served as spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department and traveled with a small group of colleagues to better understand the impact of U.S. policy in the region. That day, we shared a meal with residents of the village, walked through their bomb shelters and nursery rooms, and listened to their fears of living so close to the Gaza Strip — just three miles to their west.

We toured a nearby tunnel that the terrorist organization Hamas built to transport fighters and weapons from Gaza, and spoke with officers of the Israel Defense Forces about the threat posed by Hamas and Iran. Never did I think that just a few years later,  Kfar Aza would come under attack with a depravity that has horrified the world.