Several videos and photos have emerged from Israel after a surprise attack by Hamas fighters resulted in nearly 700 deaths. The attack transformed a joyful desert music festival into a fight for survival, as shown in multiple videos captured by a woman.
The videos begin with festival-goers dancing and enjoying the Supernova festival in a remote area of southern Israel near the Gaza Strip. However, the atmosphere quickly changes as men and women scramble across an open field towards cars while gunshots ring out.
Thousands of young people had danced through the night at the festival, but tragedy struck at dawn on Saturday when over 1,000 Hamas fighters crossed the Gaza border into Israel, taking control of frontier communities amidst a barrage of rocket fire.
One video shows the woman rushing to her car before being forced out of it by Hamas gunmen. She pleads with them, saying, “Please, please… don’t.” Another frame reveals someone with a gunshot wound, followed by the woman crying and seemingly trying to hide from the attackers.
The compilation of videos concludes with several young people under the captivity of the Hamas fighters. A volunteer from the humanitarian NGO Zaka estimates that around 250 people attending the festival were killed by Hamas gunmen.
Drone footage displays numerous abandoned cars at the festival site, left behind as people fled the massacre. The aftermath of the attack left destroyed or bullet-riddled vehicles near Kibbutz Re’im, close to Gaza where Hamas launched the assault.
The music festival was one of the initial targets of the gunmen, who arrived on motorbikes, pickup trucks, speed boats, and motorized gliders. Some even flew over the festival in gliders, as seen in a widely shared online video.
Another disturbing video that circulated on social media showed a 25-year-old woman named Noa Argamani cry for help while being kidnapped on the back of a motorbike.
The estimate of 250 deaths at the festival accounts for over one-third of the total death count resulting from the Hamas assault. In retaliation, Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip have reportedly killed at least 560 people, according to the health ministry there.