Militants shot people “like ducks at a shooting range”
A terrible symbol of the Hamas invasion of Israel was the bloodbath staged by militants at a music festival. At least 260 people became victims of the massacre.
Fragment of an incident at a music festival in the south Israel
It was supposed to be a festival filled with fun and music, with thousands of carefree partygoers dancing in the desert under the stars, writes the Daily Mail. The Supernova event, coinciding with the Jewish festival Simchat Torah, was billed as a celebration of «friends, love and endless freedom.»
Instead, a weekend-long outdoor rave in southern Israel turned into the scene of unimaginable carnage.< /p>
Frightened festival participants fled for their lives, being attacked by Hamas militants who descended on the site on paragliders, drove up on motorcycles and pickup trucks.
Several hours passed before help arrived, leaving the militants, armed with grenade launchers and machine guns, free to commit bloody outrages, writes the Daily Mail.
At least 260 people were killed in the massacre at the time how many are still missing – likely dead too or taken hostage by bloodthirsty militants. As rescue workers continue to clear the deadly wreckage of Sunday's attack, the Daily Mail reveals how the terror unfolded.
Surrounded by desert trees, partygoers spent the night dancing to upbeat trance music under the stars. They began arriving at the site, which featured several stages, a camping area, and a food court, from 11 p.m., paying $100 a ticket, blissfully unaware of the horror to come.
Three miles away, on the border in Gaza, heavily armed Hamas fighters were preparing for a brutal multi-pronged attack — breaking through the fortified fence surrounding the territory, using explosives to create gaps.
The footage shows unsuspecting partygoers dancing around 6.30am as a group of Hamas paragliders approach in the sky some distance behind them.
At about the same time, an arc overhead of the ravers rockets flew by. Some did not initially pay attention to the sounds of explosions and gunfire due to the blaring music, while others, accustomed to rockets from Gaza, did not even pay attention to them.
But when the music stopped, the audience fell to the ground: standard training for those living in southern Israel, where cross-border shootings are common. A voice boomed from speakers throughout the precinct, warning: “Guys, we have a red alert! Red alert!” A handful of police officers began breaking up the party and shouting «Red!» — code for an approaching rocket attack.
“It started out like a great party, with great mood and energy,” says one of the survivors. “But at about 6.30 in the morning the rocket attack began. Many people panicked and ran to their cars.”
Briton Jake Marlow, 26, who was working security at the event, texted friends later that morning saying he was still trying to get people out. Around 9 a.m., the 26-year-old, who has since been missing, left a short voice note for a friend saying he was staying with another friend he called Shlomi.
It said: “We with Shlomi right outside Gaza, bro… We see it before our eyes, now we're gathering people from the party, we're on ATVs and telling everyone to get the hell out of here.»
As festivalgoers rushed to their cars or began to hide, they found themselves surrounded: four pickup trucks filled with gunmen and armed men on motorcycles blocked the main road leading out of the venue.
“We heard shots and later realized that the militants were aiming at those who were trying to escape from the party — they were waiting for them,” says an eyewitness. “When I got to my car, the terrorists were still shooting. I saw a woman wounded in the leg, I saw a car with bullets shattering the windshield. There was such panic, and the sounds of gunshots were getting closer and closer. We all realized that it was a terrorist attack.»
Hanoch Hai Cohen, 32 years old, from Tel -Aviva said: “They shot at people just a meter away from us… It was an execution. We were like ducks on a shooting range.” The vehicles were abandoned before leaving because they were fired on by automatic weapons and hit by grenade launchers.
Shai Weinstein, 26, who recently moved to Tel Aviv from Toronto, said: «I remember one particular car, a person was sitting in the front seat. They tried to escape, but they couldn't, and they were shot in the car.»
Chilling footage from social media showed desperate festival-goers running through the desert with no cover as rapid gunfire rang out, some were involved in a terrifying chase as assailants pursued them in cars and partygoers were killed or captured by gunmen.
Injured survivor Sahar Ben Sela said a police officer took him to a concrete bomb shelter along with about 30 other people. “Within a few minutes, the terrorists started shooting at us and neutralized the policeman right in front of us,” he said. “They threw a grenade, which exploded at the entrance to the shelter. A minute later… they threw another grenade, which hit me in the head.” «I was standing against the wall in the second row of people, and a grenade flew into the bodies behind. They were the ones who got hurt, and that's what saved us.»
An eyewitness says the terrorist then entered the hideout with an Uzi and fired at the trapped partygoers: “Everyone who was in the first and second rows, except me, was killed. The bullet hit me in the elbow, and shrapnel hit my leg and lungs. I think his gun jammed because I heard a noise and he ran outside.”
When Sahar managed to escape, he was able to call the police for help, but was told, “Just run. Good luck.” «.
As the bloodthirsty gunmen continued to mow down everyone in their path, terrified festivalgoers ran for cover in nearby orchards, banana groves or ditches. “We were hiding and running, hiding and running in an open field, the worst place that could have been in this situation,” said Arik Nani from Tel Aviv, who was celebrating his 26th birthday. Parents and friends received panicked messages from their trapped loved ones desperately asking for help.
It was only 9:30 a.m.—but it would be six hours before the Israeli military arrived. Until this time, militants could kill indiscriminately. DVR footage from an abandoned car shows a man hiding: a terrorist approaches the unfortunate man cowering on the ground behind the car and shoots him.
Others were forced to play dead as the killings continued around them, only to catch their breath when they heard the security forces speak Hebrew.
Nineteen-year-old Esther Borochov says: “They started shooting at us point-blank. A young man took us in his jeep. They shot him… The car overturned. We pretended to be dead, me and my friend, for two and a half hours… until help arrived. That's how we survived.»
May Hiatt, who was working in a bar at the festival, said: «I hid under the party stage and lay down next to three dead people. I smeared the blood that was dripping from one of the bodies , and pretended to be dead. For three hours I lay among the corpses and wondered what would happen to me.”
Around 10 a.m., 25-year-old student Noah Argamani and her boyfriend Avinathan Or texted loved ones to let them know they were safe. They said that Noah was hiding with a group of people who were being killed. «She said terrorists were going crazy and killing and kidnapping people,» said childhood friend Yad Gorjalstan, 27. “The last time we heard from Noa was around 10 a.m., and then the next thing we see is her in a Hamas propaganda video.”
Footage circulating on social media shows the terrified student screaming as gunmen put her on a motorcycle.
Shani Luk, 30, was seen trying to get to her car when she was surrounded by armed terrorists. Her mother Ricarda said she last spoke to her daughter after she heard rockets and alarms in southern Israel and called to see if she had reached safety. «She was heading to her car, and the military stood at the cars and shot so that people could not get to their cars, even to leave. That's when they took her away.» Hours later, a video emerged showing an apparently lifeless, half-naked woman, believed to be Shani Luk, being driven through Gaza in the back of a truck.
In extremely disturbing scenes, the gunmen can be seen sitting on her body while one pulls her hair and another spits on her, writes the Daily Mail. Her family said they recognized her distinctive tattoos. “It looks very bad, but I still have hope,” says Rikard Luk. “I hope they are not taking the bodies for negotiations. I hope she is still alive somewhere.”
The staggering death toll from the festival only came to light on Monday, when Israel's Zaka rescue service said at least 260 bodies had been recovered, with fears the total could rise.
Harrowing photographs emerged of dozens of bags of corpses being loaded into refrigerated trucks. «They killed people in cold blood in an unthinkable way,» said Zaka spokesman Moti Bukjin. Desperate relatives continue to visit hospitals in an attempt to find the missing.
Shani Tsaban, 31, said, that her parents spent hours pacing the hospital wards anxiously searching for her missing sister, Bar Zohar, 23. She said: “At about 6.40am yesterday, Bar called our mother and said: 'Mom, come and get me, there are rockets here!' Then, a little later, she called again, shouting: “Mom! Mom!”, and then the phone was disconnected.”