These lines are being written under fire. Israel is engaged in a bizarre war that it did not want, sparked by a dispute between Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the Jews seeking to evict them from their homes. It spread to Al-Aqsa Mosque, where it was fueled by observances of the holy month of Ramadan, sparked an intense clash with Hamas and Gaza and prompted rioting by Arab citizens of Israel. Scenes of Arab gangs prowling the streets of the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod and venting their anger on Jewish neighbors evoked comparisons to anti-Jewish pogroms in pre-Nazi Europe. In some Lod neighborhoods, Jewish residents barricaded themselves in their homes, fearing they would be harmed by the groups of Arabs torching cars, synagogues and other facilities.

Police were caught unprepared, even helpless. Border police units were sent in to back up local police forces spread thin throughout the country dealing with rioting in other mixed towns, such as Acre. The transition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also caught off guard. The nightmare scenario that many Israelis feared was suddenly here.

On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, May 11 to 12, the organization and its affiliated factions fired hundreds of rockets at Israel. Hamas' capabilities were somewhat reminiscent of Hezbollah’s and clearly made possible by money from Qatar.

The projectiles sent almost half of Israel’s population into shelters, killed five civilians in the Israel’s south and center and wounding scores. Sirens wailed throughout the night, rousing residents of Tel Aviv, the Ben Gurion airport area and the Sharon central region from their beds and sending them fleeing for cover. Another Israeli was killed this morning when an anti-tank missile hit the south of Israel.