Iapproached him in the crowd in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square because of what he was wearing.

It was a black T-shirt bearing two faces of the missing.

Two hostages.

Two of the hundreds whose taking two years ago started this terrible war.

The gentleman’s name was Itzik Horn, a retired teacher and principal.

I asked his age, and I was surprised he wasn’t older. His eyes – and lined face – spoke of a journey longer than his 71 years.

Did he know these two young men?

He nodded, gravely.

Yes, he knew them well.

They were his sons.

That day I spoke to him, the war was 103 days and 10 hours old. I know this because of a huge digital clock in the square that marked it down to the second.

When I saw the clock, I wondered if hostage families like Itzik Horn’s would have to wait another 100

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