The Nova Festival Massacre on October 7th Kan 7.10.360

About 3,500 women and men from all over the country are at the Nova music festival next to kibbutz Reim. At six in the morning, they are excited after long hours of dancing and a moment before the event's climax - sunrise. On the central stage, DJ Artifex plays. The event received all security clearances, and alongside several dozen ushers, 43 policemen armed with pistols were present at the party.

Extensive rocket fire at the Gaza Envelope. When they see the shooting and the interceptions above their heads, security guards and party organizers run to the DJ and ask him to turn off the music - even though no alarm has been set off there. “Red Color,” they shout from the stage towards the attendees: “disperse, red color.” Next, Aviv Eliyahu, the event's security director, announces: “Red Color, everyone lay on the floor, hands on your head”

Less than three minutes after the first barrage, the party organizers announce that the event is over and urge everyone to go home. They open the emergency gates and urge everyone to stay away from the area. Panic ensues, but most attendees pack their bags and head toward the parking lot.

Investigation findings indicate that the terrorists did not know about the party in advance and did not plan to go there, but when they saw the movement of vehicles from the Re'im parking area, they realized that something big was going on. They start shooting at the cars and decide to abandon their original targets and head to the party area. On the bodies of some of the terrorists killed at Nova, maps of remote cities such as Kiryat Gat, Ashkelon, and Be'er Sheva were found

The first reports of gunfire in the area were first received just before 7 a.m. There is only one road that leads out of the parking lot in Re'im ,Route 232. Even before the terrorists reached the car park, a traffic jam was formed at the exit, and the people stuck in it had no idea that the first cars had already been hit. The terrorists shot at cars and massacred their passengers along the entire route, creating a barrier that prevented the festival attendees from leaving the area. Many of the victims fleeing the party were killed on this road, some were abducted from there.

Upon hearing gunfire on the road and incoming reports of a terrorist incursion, many decide to abandon their vehicles and run toward the fields. Dozens of terrorists chase them. The whistles of bullets are heard above them and some of their friends are murdered on the way. Those who survived described feeling like 'sitting ducks'.

Those who managed to escape the terrorists opt to hide in the fields around the party. Many festival attendees hide in bushes and trees, in ditches, pits, and orchards. Many lay like this for hours on end, some with gunshot and shrapnel injuries. They called the police and sent locations to anyone they could. Some called parents to say goodbye, some documented themselves in what they thought would be their last moments, and some had to move from place to place so they wouldn't be caught. The Nukhba terrorists were looking for them all over the area, they shot and killed anyone they found. Some of them were kidnapped.

While the massacre at the party grounds took place, many festival attendees who left immediately after the rocket barrages managed to get away from the area. They did not know about the terrorist incursion, and, hearing the many Red Color alerts took shelter in the shelters scattered along Route 232. Dozens of ravers huddled in these small, cramped spaces. When Hamas terrorists noticed them, they threw grenades at them, shot at them, and also dead-checked. Aner Shapira, a fighter in the Nahal Reconnaissance Unit who was on vacation and was hiding in one of the shelters, managed to repel seven grenades thrown at the shelter in which he was hiding with a large group of ravers. The eighth grenade killed him.

According to a police report, at eight o'clock the first force of the Counter-Terrorism Squad arrived in the area. Between eight and nine, additional police units arrived in the area.

Around eight o'clock, many ravers were still on the grounds of the party. They took shelter with police officers and near a makeshift clinic in the parking lot. Some were wounded who were shot on Route 232 and fled back to the party grounds.

As the terrorists approach the party grounds and gunshots are heard closer, the policemen urge anyone in the area to run away. Some ravers flee to the road and fields, some find hiding spots in the complex - under the stage, in the garbage containers, in the chemical restrooms, behind the bar, and even inside the refrigerators.

The terrorists crown the party grounds and a mass massacre ensues over several hours. They sweep the entire area and hit anyone they find. Many bodies found in the area bore signs of severe violence, such as shot and wounded genitalia, severed limbs, bound corpses, and burn marks. According to a UN report, sexual assaults took place at the scene, and at least 20 bodies were found bound and semi-naked.

In the fields adjacent to the party grounds was an abandoned tank. Dozens of festival attendees and a number of policemen huddle behind the tank, which acts as a barrier against the terrorists. A gunfight ensues at the scene and the policemen manage to repel the terrorists. Only five hours later, IDF forces will begin to rescue wounded civilians from there. Later, it will be revealed that the tank was driven by an armorer named Ido Somech, who lost his crew in a run-in near the border and single-handedly fought off dozens of terrorists. He abandoned the tank when it stopped driving. He too, like many of the party attendees, ran to the fields and hid there for hours, severely wounded.

Many parents who have lost contact with their children have sent rescue messages to anyone they just can. Reserve Major General Yair Golan receives dozens of such inquiries that morning, so does moshav Patish resident Rami Davidian. Both set out with waypoints to rescue ravers hiding in the fields and orchards. For hours they play the role of defense forces: they track down frightened and wounded youngsters and bring them to safety. They, like many others, repeated this action dozens of times and saved hundreds of people.

Military forces reaches party territory. At this stage, there were no more terrorists in the area and there were hardly any survivors. Lieutenant Colonel Oren Masas, who arrived on the scene, documents the magnitude of the disaster. “Police, IDF, is there anyone alive here?“, he shouts, hoping to hear any response. “Oh dear. There are dead, all dead. The whole stage is full of dead bodies.”

Zaka personnel and the military begin evacuating the bodies from the area. It was estimated in the early days that 260 people were murdered at the party. About a month and a half later, it turns out that the number is larger and stands at 364 murdered.

Parents who have lost contact with their children begin to arrive at hospitals in the south of the country in the hope of their loved ones surviving. In addition, social networks are flooded with messages about hundreds missing from the party