It can be extremely difficult, and an act of bravery, to write about personal loss amid a war that is affecting millions of people. In our lead story, two Monitor correspondents 鈥撀燚ina Kraft in Israel and Ghada Abdulfattah in Gaza 鈥撀爏hare how the news of the past few days, of hostages killed and homes leveled, transformed their lives forever. I hope you鈥檒l read their heartfelt accounts, and embrace these two journalists as we at the Monitor are 鈥 and, in doing so, honor the humanity of all those caught up in the conflict raging around them.