Shot at close range: stories from eyewitnesses of the Hamas attack on a music festival in Israel

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On October 7, the Supernova electronic music festival was held in the Israeli Negev desert near the border with the Gaza Strip. It gathered about 3 thousand visitors from all over the world.

The event coincided with the Hamas attack on Israel. At the site of the festival, militants shot people en masse, and some were kidnapped and taken to the territory of Gaza. So far, more than 250 bodies of the murdered have been found.

Photo: TV channel N12

What is known about the festival?

On October 6-7, the Brazilian psychedelic trance festival Universo Paralello organized its first event in Israel – Supernova. The venue was plowed in the Negev desert near Kibbutz Reim, on the border with the Gaza Strip.

The dates of the festival coincided with Sukkot, a seven-day holiday commemorating the wandering of the Jewish people through the Sinai desert.

The venue included 3 stages, a campsite and an art space.

The event gathered about 3 thousand visitors from different countries of the world.

Photo: TRIBE of NOVA

Eyewitness stories

According to the Israeli TV channel N12, in the morning of October 7, festival participants heard an alarm. In a few minutes, a car with militants drove in, turned off the electricity and opened fire on the festival visitors.

According to Ortel, one of the participants of the festival, people started fleeing from the month of the event in their own cars.

“They (Hamas fighters – ed.) shot in bursts, and we got to the point where everyone stopped their cars and started running. I hid in the branches of trees, like a bush, and they just started shooting people. I saw a lot of wounded people, who scattered around, and I sat and tried to understand what was happening.” – she describes the events.

The woman did not come out of hiding for almost an hour, after which the militants left the area. She tried to escape by car, but the terrorists returned. After that, Ortel had to return to the hiding place for another three hours.

“I put my phone on silent mode and then started crawling through the orange grove. Live fire was whistling above me. I saw friends who were wounded, suddenly a tank drove up, which I was sure would save me, but then the driver said to me: “I can’t let you in, I have a dead man in the tank.”

Many people climbed on top of the tank and they were shooting around us. I felt that I was not safe. In the middle of the fire, she began to run away and for two hours crawled to an orchard, where she found a quiet place.” – says Ortel.

Photo: TV channel N12

Another participant of the festival, Ester Borokhova, was saved thanks to the fact that she pretended to be dead. Then she tried to flee the scene in a car, but the driver was shot at close range.

“I couldn’t move my legs. The (Israeli – ed.) soldiers came and took us to the bushes,” – says the woman.

Another eyewitness, Gili Yoskovich, was hiding in the millet garden. There she ran away from the car, which was shot at by militants.

“I found myself in the middle (of this garden – ed.), and I laid down on the ground. This was the second hiding place I found. They (militants – ed.) were just around me.

They walked from tree to tree and shot. From everywhere. From two sides. I saw that people were dying around. I was very quiet. Didn’t cry, didn’t do anything.” – she says.

Three hours later, the woman heard the voices of the Israeli soldiers and went out to be rescued.

Photo: gili.yoskovich/Instagram

An ambulance doctor from Yaniv, who was called to the scene, says that the militants staged a real massacre at the festival site.

“I have never seen anything like this in my life. It was a planned ambush. When people came out of the emergency exits, the terrorist squads were waiting for them there and just started shooting them.” he says.

What is known about the victims?

One of the victims was 30-year-old Shani Luk, who has dual citizenship of Germany and Israel.

The video with her spread on the network. Acquaintances recognized Shani by her dreadlocks and tattoos.

In the video, armed men are carrying the body of a naked woman in a pickup truck, with a visibly broken leg and blood on her head. In the background, you can hear shouts: “Allahu Akbar!”, which in translation means “Allah is the greatest.”

However, Shani’s family believes she may be alive.

“We have some hope. Hamas will answer for her and others.” – says Tom Weintraub Luk, cousin of the abducted woman.

Photo: shanukkk/Instagram

Among the missing are also a couple in love – Noa Arghamani and Avinathan Or. Their abduction was also captured on video.

Thanks to this, Moshe Or, Avinatan’s brother, recognized the couple.

“I saw his girlfriend Noa on the video, scared and excited. I can’t imagine what is happening to her – screaming in panic on a motorcycle when some scumbags are holding her and won’t let her go.

My brother is a big guy, two meters tall, trains four times a week, very strong. He was probably held by four or five people and just led them towards the lane.” – he said.

The fate of Celine Nagar, a 26-year-old French-Israeli, is currently unknown. She is survived by a 6-month-old daughter.

Celine’s husband, Idor Nagar, traced the location of the car in which the woman was traveling. It was on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Idor went in search of a car. When he found the car, it was riddled with bullet holes, but with no traces of blood. Therefore, the man hopes that Celine is alive.

ZAKA, a volunteer group that searches for human remains after terrorist attacks and other disasters, said it found more than 250 bodies at the music festival site.

What happened?

On the morning of October 7, Hamas attacked Israel with rockets and invaded the country’s territory.

On October 9, Israel announced that it had returned to control all areas on the border near the Gaza Strip.

About 800 dead and 2,500 wounded are currently known.

Ukraine managed to take a wounded Ukrainian boy out of Israel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also checking information on the deaths of three Ukrainians – two in Israel and one in the Gaza Strip.

Read also: Invisible to the Geneva Conventions. Why is it so difficult for Ukraine to return civilian prisoners home?

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