JERUSALEM (AP) – The outdoor Tribe of Nova music festival in a rural area near the Gaza-Israel border became a site of deadly chaos when Hamas militants launched attacks in the desert area early Saturday.
The attack on the music festival was part of the larger assault on Israel by Hamas fighters who blew through a fortified border fence in an unprecedented surprise attack that began earlier.
Revellers tried to run and hide from the gunfire, according to an Israeli rescue organisation, news outlets and accounts on social media.
The Israeli rescue service Zaka said paramedics have removed about 260 bodies from the music festival, with the figure expected to rise as teams continue working to clear the area. Festival organisers said in a statement on social media they were assisting security forces to help locate missing people who attended the event.
Video posted to social media from the music festival showed a young woman being abducted by men on a motorbike as she cried for help. Another man nearby was led away with his hands behind his back. A separate video showed dozens of panicked festival-goers running through a field, trying to get into their cars, as gunshots rung out.
Festival attendee Shoam Gueta told NBC News that he fled the chaos with a group of 20 people, hiding in the bushes for almost six hours, urging people to remain silent and in place while the attack unfolded.
“If you just say something, if you make any noise, you’ll be murdered,” Gueta told NBC News.
