The descriptions of the civilians who were surprised by the attack by Hamas members last Saturday and tried tooth and nail to save themselves from the “blind” attack they launched are shocking.

The New York Times spoke to a woman who was one of the lucky ones who managed to survive both herself and her baby from the attack, waiting 72 hours for help. However, the same did not happen with her partner since she still does not know if he is alive or where he is.

As she said, as soon as she heard the gunshots and sirens, she took her baby, little Saya, and hid in a warehouse under some dirt bags she found there. When that shelter was no longer safe, he ran out onto a lawn, gunfire raining down, and began banging on the door of a house he found until the family who lived there opened it. In total, he said, they waited 27 hours before someone helped them. Her partner, Yahav Wiener, is missing, Ms. Atari said.

“I really don’t know where our state has been,” she said, seething with anger as the people of Israel are baffled as to how their country, with its vaunted military and intelligence capabilities, was caught so off guard.

“They abandoned us,” he said bitterly.