Jerusalem –
The outdoor Tribe of Nova music festival features an all-night dance party in a rural area near the Gaza-Israel border, where thousands of young people celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. We were planning to celebrate.
But it became a scene of deadly chaos early Saturday when Hamas militants attacked a festival in the desert region, killing an estimated 260 people. Israeli rescue groups, news outlets and social media accounts said terrified, drunken people ran and tried to hide from the gunfire.
Israeli rescue service Zaka said emergency workers removed about 260 bodies from the music festival, and that number was expected to rise as teams continued to clear the scene. Festival organizers said in a statement on social media that they were assisting security forces in searching for missing people who attended the event.
The attack on the music festival was part of a major assault on Israel by Hamas fighters who broke through the fortified border fence in an unprecedented surprise attack that began on Saturday.
A video posted on social media from the music festival showed a young woman screaming for help as she was abducted by men on motorbikes. Another man nearby was taken away with his hands behind his back. Another video showed dozens of panicked festival-goers running through fields and trying to get into cars as gunshots rang out.
Festival attendee Shome Gueta told NBC News that he and a group of about 20 people fled the chaos and hid in the bushes for nearly six hours, telling people to remain silent until the attack unfolded. He said he called. He said he saw people being shot as they tried to evacuate and saw a woman being slashed with a knife.
“I saw terrorists killing people, burning cars, screaming everywhere,” Gueta told NBC News. “If you say something or make any noise, you’ll be killed.”
