The party turned dramatic. Hamas fighters targeted a rave party during their offensive on Israel. It was held in southern Israel, in the Negev desert, close to the border with the Gaza Strip. According to The Times of Israel, the "Nova Party" began at 23 p.m. on Friday and continued through the night. Thousands of Israelis from all over the country were there, according to the newspaper.
What happened?
The first rockets fell on the festival grounds at 6:30 a.m. local time, reports CNN. Gunfire followed only thirty minutes after the first rockets. In one video, young revelers can be seen dancing as paratroopers — Hamas fighters — appear in the background. No one seems to realize what is happening.
Israelis in the desert at a rave party completely unaware of Hamas fighters arriving on paragliders
Snapshot from yesterday pic.twitter.com/02NTuQNmjU
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) October 8, 2023
In other videos, revellers flee the venue at the sound of bullets. Some witnesses - notably quoted by CNN - describe an open-air "firing range". "We didn't even have a place to hide," said one. Noya Reuven - a 20-year-old man - described to The Times of Israel a general panic in which shots were fired at the crowd. "They were... everywhere with automatic weapons," one survivor told the BBC.
Read alsoAttacks on Israel: why Hamas' offensive is unprecedented
Chen was also present at the scene. "We were in the middle of a rave party and all of a sudden we were shot at from all sides. We escaped and took refuge under a tank. The terrorists then targeted us with rocket launchers," he told I24 News.
💬 "We were in the middle of a rave party and all of a sudden we were shot"
➡ The testimony of Chen, an Israeli victim of gunfire by Hamas' military wing pic.twitter.com/nkrEjjOH0c
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 7, 2023
Esther Borochov, another participant quoted by Reuters, said a vehicle ran into hers as she tried to flee. A young man allegedly offered to get him into his car, just before he was shot. She survived by pretending to be dead, waiting for the Israeli soldiers to arrive.
Who are the victims?
A 26-year-old French-Israeli man may be among the missing. "A 26-year-old Frenchman, Avidan T., originally from Bordeaux, was probably kidnapped in southern Israel by Hamas while he was participating in the music festival," wrote Meyer Habib, an LR deputy from the constituency of French nationals abroad (which includes Israel), on X (ex-Twitter).
🛑 A 26-year-old Frenchman, Avidan T, from Bordeaux, was probably kidnapped in southern Israel by Hamas while attending the music festival.
He could be held by the terrorists.
His family, his father, with whom I spoke at length, did not have any questions.
— Meyer Habib (@Meyer_Habib) October 8, 2023
According to the MP interviewed, the young man sent "a distress message" to his family on Saturday morning. Questioned on BFMTV at midday, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne nevertheless considered that it was "premature to confirm this information". "Our embassy, our consulate general, is monitoring the situation very closely (and) ensuring that the safety of our nationals is ensured in Israel," she added.
Read alsoHamas attacks in Israel: festival-goers, soldiers... What we know about the hundreds of victims
A young German-Israeli woman, Shani Louk, was reportedly kidnapped by Hamas. In a shocking video circulating on social media, a partially naked young woman can be seen in the back of a Hamas pick-up truck. It is impossible to say whether she was alive at the time.
Her mother recognized her by her tattoos and hairstyle. "We received a video in which I was able to clearly recognize my daughter where she is unconscious in a Palestinian car near the Gaza Strip. I ask you to help us and provide us with information," she said in a video posted on social media. According to one of her cousins quoted by the Washington Post, Shani Louk was present at the party. "She didn't respond," he said.
The mother of Shani Louk, the woman whose body was seen on video in the back of a pick-up truck driven by Palestinian terrorists to Gaza, released a statement earlier today.
She confirmed she had seen her daughter on the video & asked the public for help with more information pic.twitter.com/LDcPsjGHP8
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 8, 2023
A 26-year-old British national named Jake Marlowe is also missing. He was providing security for this rave party. The Israeli embassy in the UK confirmed his disappearance, but not his abduction. "He is missing, we don't know for sure if he was taken hostage, or if he is dead or in hospital," an embassy spokesman told the PA news agency. According to his mother Lisa, contacted by the British newspaper Jewish News, Jake Marlowe had described rocket attacks to her. "Then at about 5:30 a.m., he wrote to me to say bad connection, everything is fine, I'll keep you posted, I promise you and that he loved me." She has not heard from her since.
What are the results?
No official death toll has yet been announced. Partygoers were reportedly kidnapped. There are also many deaths, with some Israeli sources quoted on social networks - but unverifiable as it stands - putting the figure at 250 bodies found on the festival site.