The residents of the Israeli border communities expected periodic rocket attacks after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

They accepted the danger as the price of country life in a tight-knit community which still had traces of the pioneer spirit of early Zionist settlements.

Residents of Kfar Aza, and the other Israeli communities near Gaza, enjoyed good quality of life – despite the threat from Hamas rockets.

In the houses, lawns and open areas of the kibbutz, a concrete shelter was never more than a dash away.

All the houses also had reinforced safe rooms. They also had outside terraces, barbeques, swings for the children, and fresh air.

But no one – here in Kfar Aza or elsewhere in Israel – imagined Hamas would be able to breach Israel’s defences and kill so many people.

The horror and rage of Israelis has been mixed with incredulity that the state and the military failed in its fundamental duty to protect its citizens.

Source: BBC