The Times said the strike is feared to be among the deadliest of the war. Even in that grim category, the detail that the target was a humanitarian hub lands hard. These are the places meant to hold together some fragment of civilian life after everything else has been shattered.
Hours after the attack, the United States said peace talks with Russia and Ukraine would resume after nine months, the Times reported. That does not establish any link between the two developments. It does place a fresh diplomatic announcement beside a mass-casualty strike, which is its own kind of indictment of how war keeps moving on two tracks at once.
The verified facts in the available report are spare and severe: a humanitarian hub was hit, at least 31 people were reported killed, and dozens of people were still missing hours later.
Dua Mifsud 
Harvey Jr. 
Sophia Borg