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By Yotam Vilk
Mr. Vilk is a reserve captain in the Israel Defense Forces. He lives in Tel Aviv.
On Oct. 7, 2023, when the scale of Hamas’s massacre in Israel became clear, we went to war. The pain for those of us in the military was unbearable. The feeling that we had failed to protect our loved ones consumed me. Fueled by anger and guilt, we entered combat against a ruthless terror organization that showed with brutal clarity the depths of its cruelty.








