Re'im music festival massacre


Contributors to Wikimedia projects

Article Images

On 7 October 2023, during the October 2023 Gaza−Israel conflict, Hamas terrorists[4] who had penetrated into Israel from the Gaza Strip attacked a music festival in Re'im.[5][6] Of the 3000 people attending the festival, at least 260 people were killed, and many others were wounded or taken hostage, and their whereabouts are still unknown.[5][7][8]

2023 Re'im music festival massacre
Native nameהטבח במסיבת הטבע ליד רעים
LocationRe'im, Southern District, Israel
Date7 October 2023; 11 months ago

Attack type

Mass shooting, mass murder, war crimes[3]
Deaths260+[1][2]
InjuredGunshot wounds, sexual violence [3]
Victimscivilians
Perpetrator Hamas
MotiveIsraeli terrorism

Background

Tribe of Nova was a trance music festival, or rave, held at a festival site in Israel approximately three miles from the Gaza–Israel barrier,[9] near Kibbutz Re'im.[5][9] The "all-night nature party" event, produced by NOVA Productions was held outdoors in the western Negev desert.[8] Called the Supernova festival, it was to coincide with the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah.[5] The festival was dedicated to peace.[10][11][12][13][14] The site of the festival had three stages, as well as a camping zone and an area with a bar and food.[5] According to an emergency medic who responded to the subsequent massacre at the festival, there were approximately 3,000 attendees.[5] Attendees described the crowd as mostly consisting of Israelis ages 20 to 40, from across the country.[8] Security guards were present at the festival.[8]

Attack

The musical festival was among the first targets of the surprise attack against Israel, launched by Hamas in the early morning hours of October 7, 2023.[9]

One attendee told the BBC that after cutting the electricity, a group of approximately 50 Hamas gunmen arrived in vans and sprayed gunfire "in every direction".[5] At least some of the Hamas gunmen who attacked the festival infiltrated Israel via motorized paragliders,[15] arriving around 6:30 a.m., around sunrise.[15][16] As festival attendees fled in panic, jeeps filled with gunmen began firing at the cars. Others who hid in the trees were murdered as militants went "tree by tree", shooting.[5] The incident unfolded amid a rocket siren, signaling a barrage of rockets fired into Israel.[8]

Photographs released by Israel's foreign ministry in the aftermath of the attack showed dozens of bodies at the festival grounds, including a badly burned body bound by cable ties.[17] In a separate video, Hamas paraded the naked and battered body of Shani Nicole Louk, a 23-year-old tattoo artist and German-Israeli dual citizen, in the back of a pickup truck as Hamas gunmen, including one carrying a rocket-propelled grenade, spat on her body and chanted "Allah Akbar."[18][19]

Death toll

ZAKA, Israel's volunteer community emergency response group, reported retrieving approximately 260 bodies from the party grounds.[20][21] The death toll is expected to rise, as other paramedic organizations also responded to the scene.[21]

One of those killed was a British man serving in the Israeli military; among the missing is another British man.[22]

Taking of hostages

The Gaza fighters captured an unknown number of participants; videos on social media showed them being seized by their armed captors.[23] The abducted concertgoers were taken to Gaza,[16] where some were filmed in Hamas propaganda videos.[24] Relatives and friends of the missing searched for information about the missing.[16][25]

See also

References

  1. ^ Tal, Amir (8 October 2023). "At least 260 bodies found at music festival site in Israel after Hamas attack, rescue organization says". Israel at war with Hamas after unprecedented attacks. Jerusalem: CNN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023. At least 260 bodies have been found at the site of an Israeli music festival following Saturday's attack by Hamas, according to Israeli rescue service Zaka.
  2. ^ Boxerman, Aaron; Frenkel, Sheera (8 October 2023). "Dozens were killed at a music festival and others abducted". Israel-Gaza Conflict. New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b Leibovitz, Liel (8 October 2023). "Eyewitness account of the Rave Massacre". Tablet Mag. New York. Retrieved 8 October 2023. Women have been raped at the area of the rave next to their friends bodies, dead bodies.
  4. ^ "Hamas gunmen open fire on hundreds at music festival in southern Israel". CBS. New York. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023. terrorists on motorcycles drove into the crowd "opening fire.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Gillett, Francesca (8 October 2023). "How an Israel music festival turned into a nightmare after Hamas attack". BBC News. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  6. ^ Estrin, Daniel; Chappell, Bill; Kaplow, Larry; Kim, Juliana (7 October 2023). "All-out war: Israel pounds Gaza after militants infiltrate in a large-scale attack". NPR. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  7. ^ Tabachnick, Cara (8 October 2023). "Israelis search for loved ones with posts and pleas on social media". Yahoo News. CBS News. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Thousands flee rocket and gunfire at all-night desert 'Nature Party'; dozens missing". The Times of Israel. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b c Morris, Loveday; Piper, Imogen; Sohyun Lee, Joyce; George, Susannah (8 October 2023). "How a night of dancing and revelry in Israel turned into a massacre". The Washington Post.
  10. ^ 240 Bodies Discovered in Southern Israel Music Festival Killing Field
  11. ^ Videos Show 'Hamas Terrorists' Abduct Woman From Peace Festival in Israel
  12. ^ Israel-Hamas war: Woman paraded naked by militants identified as German tattoo artist
  13. ^ Family of German woman whose naked body was paraded around by Hamas plead for information
  14. ^ Women, children, and seniors believed to be among at least 100 Israeli hostages seized by Hamas and taken to Gaza
  15. ^ a b Colin Freeman and Nataliya Vasilyeva, How a sunrise desert rave was shattered by paragliding Hamas gunmen, Telegraph (October 8, 2023).
  16. ^ a b c Bethan McKernan & Quique Kierszenbaum (8 October 2023). "Shock and anger: Israelis search for loved ones after Hamas attack". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Subramaniam, Tara; Raine, Andrew; Poole, Thom; Berlinger, Joshua; Chowdhury, Maureen; Meyer, Matt (8 October 2023). "Israel at war with Hamas after unprecedented attacks". CNN. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  18. ^ Joe Barnes (8 October 2023). "German festival-goer identified as young woman whose naked body was paraded by Hamas". Telegraph.
  19. ^ "Desert horror: Music festival goers heard rockets, then Gaza militants fired on them and took hostages". CNN. 7 October 2023.
  20. ^ "ZAKA says more than 250 bodies collected from site of music festival attacked by Hamas". Times of Israel. 8 October 2023.
  21. ^ a b Tia Goldenberg and Wafaa Shurafa, Israel declares war and approves 'significant' steps to retaliate for surprise attack by Hamas, Associated Press (October 8, 2023).
  22. ^ London-born man killed in Israel, another UK citizen missing, Reuters (October 8, 2023).
  23. ^ Murphy, Paul P.; Goodwin, Allegra; Brown, Benjamin; Paget, Sharif (8 October 2023). "Desert horror: Music festival goers heard rockets, then Gaza militants fired on them and took hostages". CNN.
  24. ^ Canaan Lidor, https://www.timesofisrael.com/waiting-for-official-help-relatives-scan-graphic-videos-from-gaza-to-find-missing/ Waiting for official help, relatives scan graphic videos from Gaza to find missing], Times of Israel (October 8, 2023).
  25. ^ Breiner, Josh; Kubovich, Yaniv; Naot, Shira (7 October 2023). "Survivors of Massacre at Israeli Outdoor Rave Describe 'Battlefield'". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 October 2023.