In a tragic incident on October 7, 2023, rocket attacks target the Israeli Music Festival, leading to chaos and casualties. The attack occur around 6:30 AM local time, with hundreds of attendees, including Tal Gably, fleeing for their lives after Hamas forces fire upon them.
The Nova Festival, an outdoor music event near the Gaza-Israel border, one of the locations target in this highly coordinate attack by Hamas. According to Israel’s rescue services, at least 260 bodies discover at the festival site, and several individuals reportedly taken hostage.
Celebrating Sukkot
The Nova Festival hold to celebrate Sukkot, a Jewish holiday. It attract over 50 participants from various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Romania, Albania, Italy, Japan, and Pakistan. The festival took place in an open field, leaving attendees with no immediate shelter.
Tal Gably, a survivor of the attack at Nova Festival, describe the panic that ensu as the rockets struck. “We didn’t even have a place to take cover because we in an open space,” she said. People began to panic, grabbing their belongings as they fled.
Explosions and Fear
Explosions could be heard in videos capture by Tal Gably as she and her friends hurriedly left the concert area, approximately 2.3 kilometers from the border. In the videos, someone can be heard saying, “Ima’le,” an expression of fear or surprise commonly use in Israel.
Unbeknownst to Tal Gably and others, less than two miles away, Hamas had also begun attacking Israeli tanks and soldiers. As people try to escape in their cars, traffic became congest, and movement virtually impossible.
Caught in the Crossfire
Tal Gably recount that the shooting began as traffic stall. In a video she record, an Israeli military vehicle seen moving against the flow of traffic as people clear the way. Someone outside the vehicle could be heard shouting, “Go! Move! Move!”
In the midst of chaos, Tal Gably and her friends panick, abandon their cars, and start running. A video circulating on social media shows hundreds of people leaving their vehicles, sprinting across an open field with the sounds of gunfire in the background.
Tal Gably reveal that she eventually found refuge in a forest after fleeing on foot. Along the way, she encounter several dead and injur individuals on the roadside. One scene that haunts her is the sight of a concertgoer shot dead outside a van, and another lifeless body in the passenger seat of a vehicle.
Hostages and Disturbing Videos
Details about hostages taken during the attack began to emerge when family members recognize their love ones in videos circulating from Gaza. In one viral video, an Israeli woman and her boyfriend, identify as Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or, who had attend the festival, seen being abduct.
Family members and friends of the abduct couple plead for the video to be widely share, hoping it would help locate their whereabouts and secure their safe release. They express their anguish at seeing someone they knew subject to such treatment.
A Unified Effort
Amir Moadi, a roommate of Noa Argamani, said, “It’s very difficult when you see someone so close to you, someone you recognize, being treat like this.” He add that there were around five or six people from Nova Festival whose whereabouts were still unknown, and “we have to do everything now to get them back.”
Moshe Or, Avinatan Or’s brother, mention that he quickly recognize the video. “I saw Noa, his girlfriend, in the video, terrify… I can’t imagine what happen to her – screaming in panic on a motorcycle when some thugs grab her,” he recount. He believe that it would have taken four or five individuals to subdue his strong and tall brother and transport him to Gaza.
In summary, the attack on the Nova Festival in Israel left a trail of devastation, with multiple casualties, hostages, and harrowing accounts of those who survive. The incident underscores the ongoing conflict in the region and the enduring challenges face by residents and visitors alike.
