Hamas’s attack was the bloodiest in Israel’s history

ISraelis know they cannot take their physical safety for granted. But nothing in the country’s 75-year history could have prepared them for the carnage of October 7th. As The Economist went to press estimates of the number of Israelis killed in Hamas’s attack had reached 1,300, with a further 3,300 injured. Around 150 hostages are thought to have been taken to Gaza.

The failure of Israeli intelligence to anticipate the attack is comparable to the start of the Yom Kippur war of 1973, when Egypt and Syria launched simultaneous surprise offensives on Judaism’s most important holiday. The number of civilian lives lost is, however, very different. In 1973 those invading armies sought to capture territory, not slaughter non-combatants. The 2,656 Israelis who died during the three-week war were all soldiers. In contrast, only around 13% of Hamas’s victims this week were active military personnel.