'It Was A Massacre': Over 260 Killed, Countless Kidnapped At Israeli Music Festival

The vibrant atmosphere of Nova Festival, an outdoor trance music event in Re’im, Israel, took a devastating turn on October 7 when Hamas militants paraglided into the event and opened fire, leaving at least 260 dead and countless kidnapped.

The Israeli version of Paralello Universo, called Supernova Sukkot Gathering after the Jewish holiday, released a statement on Instagram on Sunday (Oct. 8) as news spread that the festival had come under attack.

“The Nova tribe is shocked and pained. We support and participate in the grief of the families of the missing and murdered. We are doing everything we can to assist the security forces, standing by. They are in continuous contact and are located in the field during scans and searches in order to locate the missing.”

“We are full of hope and pray that good news will come to us and to you soon,” continues the statement, which was in Hebrew. “In moments like these, it is important that we be strong and united, full faith, we will support each other and be there for anyone who needs it.”

Amid the shocking news, harrowing footage posted on social media showed partygoers fleeing as Hamas carried out their deadly attack, while those who managed to escape the ordeal revealed that punters overheard an air siren just moments before militants paraglided into the event and opened fire (warning: distressing content).

Palestinian terrorists invaded a festival where hundreds of Israelis were camping out for the Shemini Atzeret holiday.

The panic caused by this is evident on the fades of the civilians being targeted by heavily armed militants.

Pray for Israel. pic.twitter.com/l6zviWr2hy

— Jay Engelmayer (@jengelmayer) October 7, 2023

Noa was partying in the south of Israel in a peace music festival when Hams terrorists kidnapped her and dragged her from Israel into Gaza.

Noa is held hostage by Hamas.

She could be your daughter, sister, friend.#BringBackOurFamily pic.twitter.com/gi2AStVdTQ

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 7, 2023

One woman who attended the festival described the terror of the moment militants stormed the desert rave and opened fire on the crowd.

Gili Yoskovich hid under a tree for three hours as hundreds of people who had earlier been celebrating at the music festival ran for their lives.

“I saw people were dying all around. I was very quiet. I didn’t cry, I didn’t do anything,” she told the BBC. “I was saying: ‘OK, I’m going to die. It’s OK, just breathe, just close your eyes’.”

Another man, Raziel Tamir, who also attended the festival, said he was awoken by screams, explosions and explosions at around 6 a.m. when the militant group began killing festivalgoers.

“When I went outside my tent, I saw a crazy number of bodies, and terrorists running and firing everywhere, throwing grenades and stun grenades at people,” Tamir told the Jerusalem Post.

“People tried to run to their cars, but the terrorists waited and slaughtered them as they tried to get into their cars and escape.”

New video: Aftermath of the Supernova music festival in Israel, where Hamas gunmen killed 260 people pic.twitter.com/vRbWAYB9Mz

— BNO News (@BNONews) October 8, 2023

Meanwhile, a medic on the scene of the festival, identified only as Yaniv, dubbed the attack a “massacre”.

“You don’t understand what it was. It was a massacre. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he said. “It was a planned ambush.”

“As people came out of the emergency exits, squads of terrorists were waiting for them there and just started picking them off. In the parking lots, people started running, murdering people inside the toilets. There were 3,000 people at the event, so [the Palestinians] probably knew it. They had intelligence information.”

He added that his entire medic team had been killed in the attack.

“Each one in a different place and at a different time,” Yaniv said. “One decided that he was going out with his ambulance to provide first aid outside even though it was against the procedures — he was shot in the head. They killed the wounded we treated.”

The attacks throughout Israel suffered marked its deadliest in decades, as Hamas rampaged through the country's towns reportedly killing 700 people and abducting even more.