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A participant in a music festival in Israel, during which the Hamas group killed at least 260 people and took many hostages, told Voice of America Russia journalist Yevgenia Samus about her experience of escaping from armed attackers.

Iya, originally from Georgia, says she bought tickets for the Supernova electronic music festival in the desert of southern Israel three months in advance. Even then, the woman had doubts as to why this festival was being held on the border with Gaza, which is controlled by the Palestinians.

“It was such a good festival, we decided to go and bought tickets three months in advance. And in the evening, around 7 p.m., they sent us the address, and it showed that it was very far. This Google map was in Hebrew, and there it was indicated that the territory of Gaza is nearby. I wrote to the organizers asking if this is the territory of Israel, where is it anyway? I have preserved this correspondence. They wrote back to me that it is the territory of Israel, don’t worry, we have the police, that’s all, yes that everything is calm,” says Iya.

“We arrived among the first, there were still very few people, we found a good place, it was cool, we got a little cold, but there was a very good atmosphere. A big stage, the performances were supposed to start at 12 o’clock, the concert started at 3:40 in the morning – because I was the first I shot the video then, I don’t know why they started so late,” recalls the festival participant.

According to her, most of the participants of the festival are large groups of friends or family, with parents, sisters, brothers and their families. They lived in tents.

“I was standing there, filming a video, next to us was a family of about 15 people – father, daughter, son-in-law… – they have been living here for 15 years, we became friends with them, drank coffee and beer together. And this adult man was standing – I I don’t know his name, I wanted to find him, I shared his photo, maybe someone knows this family, but they disappeared. So he was standing there, and suddenly his eyes opened wide, “Rockets are fired!” I was standing at the back, I immediately turned around, and two huge rockets flew,” – emotionally recalls the eyewitness of the tragedy.

According to the representative of Israel at the UN, at the beginning of the attack on Israel, the Hamas group fired at least 4,500 rockets.

“We were shocked, we didn’t understand anything. We immediately ran to where the car was parked. There was already panic there, but there were no terrorists yet. We thought, well, we can still hide from the bombing. But how can you from terrorists? We got into the car, but immediately got stuck. There was a lot of panic, people were screaming, running, there were many policemen, firefighters, an ambulance, but it was not calculated for such an attack,” said Iya.

About 3,500 people gathered at the festival, when everyone started to run away, the crowd blocked the roads for cars to pass through. The only way to escape was to run.

“I fell 10 times. Once I fell into a ditch and remained lying. When the terrorists were approaching us, when they were already heard, I thought I would remain lying as if I were dead, because I no longer had the strength to run. And some guy started me pull, they say, now is not the time to lie here. Several times I tried to hide somewhere – or crawl under the car, they kept pulling me out, but I didn’t have the strength. This hell lasted for about an hour and a half. There was a cemetery, it was a one-way ticket “, the woman recalls.

When they ran away, says Iya, they didn’t have time to see what was happening behind them, how many people were around and how far their pursuers were.

“We couldn’t see what was happening behind, there was shooting, and we only heard the screams of people who were dying. And it was very close. At some point, when we were running, I fell. When I got up, I saw a man on the side, he was wearing wearing such a cream shirt, and at that moment a bullet hit him and he fell. I saw people being shot in front of me,” – as Iya describes this moment, she begins to cry.

The terrorists took a large number of people hostage, the rest were able to escape. Among those who survived, Iya and her friends. When they arrived in the nearest village, local people brought them water.

“We didn’t understand what was happening, we were still in shock. And they waved at us as survivors who had come out of hell. We didn’t understand this moment,” the woman says.

Iya continues that she still hasn’t realized what happened to her.

“It was hell. I don’t know how we survived, I just don’t know. I was begging God, please get me out of here and I’ll never go to a place like that again, never. God saved me and everyone survived like that. If only we all didn’t run, I don’t know. God just loves us,” concludes Iya.

As the Voice of America reported, US President Joe Biden expressed support for Israel on Tuesday, October 10. Biden called the actions of Hamas “pure evil.”

“The cruelty of Hamas, the thirst for blood reminded us of the worst attacks of ISIS. This is terrorism. But, unfortunately, this is not new for the Jews. This attack brought to mind the painful memories and scars left by millennia of anti-Semitism and genocide against the Jewish people,” said Joe Biden.

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