Hamas members raided the festival area with paramotors and opened fire on the crowd. Those who attended the festival hid in the bushes and orchards in the area and waited for the Israeli army to rescue them.
THIS IS HOW THE STORY OF SALVATION WAS TOLD!
A woman named Gili Yoskovich was among hundreds of young people at the music festival in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip. Speaking to the BBC, Yoskovich said he hid under a tree while gunmen were running around shooting people.
Describing the frightening moments, the woman said, “They were everywhere with automatic weapons. They stood next to the cars and started shooting, but I realized that it was very easy to be killed.” she said.
Yoskovich said:
“The terrorists were coming from four or five places. I got back into my car and drove some more. Some people were shooting at me. I left the car and started running, I saw a place with many pomelo trees and went there.”
“I SAW PEOPLE DIE AROUND”
“They were going from tree to tree and shooting. From everywhere. From both sides. I saw people dying around me. I was very quiet. I didn’t cry, I didn’t do anything. But at the same time I was breathing, I was saying, ‘Okay, I’m going to die.’ It’s okay, just breathe, just close your eyes.” ‘ I was saying because he was shooting from everywhere, he was very, very close to me. They were in the area for three hours. There was no one there, no one.”
“I was sure that the army would come, I heard some helicopters, I was sure that the army would come with helicopters and ropes, land in this area and save us. But there was no one.”
“My leg was shaking. I lay there for three hours. I was thinking about my children, my friends, everything, and I thought it was not time for me to die, not yet. Then I realized there were a few soldiers, maybe five or six soldiers. I decided to go to these soldiers.”
“I WAS THE FIRST ONE TO LEAVE THE AREA”
“I was the first one out of the area. It took another two or three hours for the others to get out, and I saw many people killed along the way.”