2023-10-09 03:14:57
The party turned into drama. Hamas fighters targeted a rave party during their offensive on Israel. It was held in southern Israel, in the Negev desert, near the border with the Gaza Strip. According to Times of Israël, the “Nova Festival” began at 11 p.m. on Friday and continued all 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 American channel CNN. Gunshots 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.
In other videos, partygoers flee the scene to the sound of bullets. Some witnesses – notably cited by CNN – describe an open-air “shooting range”. “We didn’t even have a place to hide,” said one. Noya Reuven – a 20-year-old young man – described to the Times of Israël a general panic during which shots were aimed at the crowd. “They were… everywhere with automatic weapons,” a survivor also reacted to the BBC.
Chen was also present at the scene. “We were in the middle of a rave party and suddenly we were being 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 at a rave party and suddenly we got shot”
➡ The testimony of Chen, Israeli victim of shooting by the armed wing of Hamas pic.twitter.com/nkrEjjOH0c
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 7, 2023
Esther Borochov, another participant cited by l’agence Reuters, indicated that a vehicle had rammed into hers as she tried to flee. A young man allegedly offered him a ride in his car, just before he was shot. She survived by pretending to be dead, waiting for Israeli soldiers to arrive.
Noa, a young Israeli, “did not manage to hide,” whispers to the Parisian, Amir, her roommate. “Unfortunately, Noa and her boyfriend were unable to escape. There are two videos with Noa. The one of her kidnapping and another, where we see her sitting on the ground with a bottle of water,” summarizes the roommate of the young woman who is due to celebrate her 26th birthday on October 12. “We managed to geolocate his smartphone and it is in a neighborhood of Gaza,” he says, very worried. It’s very difficult for the parents, he’s the only child in the family. I hope they are safe and sound.”
Who are the victims ?
A 26-year-old Franco-Israeli could be among the missing people. “A 26-year-old Frenchman, Avidan T., originally from Bordeaux, was undoubtedly kidnapped in the south of Israel by Hamas while he was participating in the music festival,” wrote on X (ex-Twitter) the LR deputy for the constituency of French people living abroad (which includes Israel), Meyer Habib.
???? A 26-year-old Frenchman, Avidan T, originally from Bordeaux, was undoubtedly kidnapped in the south of Israel by Hamas while he was participating in the music festival.
He could be detained by terrorists.
His family, his father, with whom I spoke at length, did not…– Meyer Habib (@Meyer_Habib) October 8, 2023
According to the deputy interviewed, the young man sent “a message of distress” to his family on Saturday morning. Questioned on BFMTV at midday, the 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.
A young German-Israeli woman, Shani Louk, was apparently 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 pickup truck. Impossible to say if she is alive then. According to Spiegel, Shani Louk’s parents were informed by their daughter’s bank, domiciled in Tel Aviv, that her credit card had been used in Gaza.
Her mother recognized her thanks to her tattoos and her 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 his cousins cited by the Washington Post, Shani Louk was present at this 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
— Visegrad 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 United Kingdom confirmed his disappearance, but not his kidnapping. “He is missing, we do not know for sure if he was taken hostage, or if he is dead or in hospital,” an embassy spokesperson told the agency. British PA. According to his mother Lisa, contacted by the English newspaper Jewish News, Jake Marlowe had described rocket attacks to her. “Then at about 5:30 he texted me to say bad connection, everything is fine, I’ll keep you posted, I promise and that he loved me.” She has not heard from her since.
That budget?
No official report has yet been communicated. Revelers were reportedly kidnapped. There would also be many deaths, some Israeli sources reported on social networks – but unverifiable as it stands – putting 250 bodies found on the festival site.
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