Youths Israelis They said they fled a dance party in the early hours of Saturday when Hamas gunmen, backed by rocket attacks, They entered cities and towns near the border.
The rave party was attended by several hundreds of people near the Israeli kibbutz of Reim, some witnesses explained. Images on social networks showed dozens of people running through fields and along a highway, escaping militants as gunshots could be heard.
🇮🇱🇵🇸 | Noa, a young woman who was partying in southern Israel at a music festival when she was kidnapped and dragged from Israel to Gaza by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/eR23Xd01E7
— World Alert (@AlertaMundial2) October 7, 2023
“The music stopped and a rocket siren was heard.”, a young woman named Ortal told Israeli television N12 News. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, they started shooting.”
❌ UNPUBLISHED IMAGE | Voici les images exclusives ou le Hamas a été parachuté dans une rave party en cours dans le désert en Israël, vous pouvez voir leurs traces dans le ciel. #Israel #Loop
Pour rester informed, suivez @les_spectateurs pic.twitter.com/2EiLJV0mHi
— Les Spectateurs (@les_spectateurs) October 8, 2023
Another partygoer, Esther Borochov, said a car had crashed into her vehicle while she was trying to flee before a young man told her and her friend that jumped into her vehicle before being shot at point-blank range while she played dead until she was rescued.
“I couldn’t move my legs,” he told Reuters at the hospital. ““The soldiers came and took us to the bushes.”
A young British man, among the missing
A young British man disappeared on Saturday after participating in the party, the UK embassy said.
His mother, Lisa, told Jewish News that Jake Marlowe, 26, had been working security at the music festival and that she last heard from her son via text message.
“He was doing security at this rave and called me at 04:30 to tell me that all these rockets were flying”, said. “Then around 05:30 he texted me to say: ‘very bad sign, everything’s fine, I’ll keep you informed, I promise,’ and that he loves me.”
Social networks flooded with images
Instagram and other channels were flooded with faces of missing people and requests for information from young people attending the outdoor rave in the desert. Another attendee was Almog Meir Jan, who at age 21 had just finished his military service.
“He called my mother at 7:45 in the morning and told her that there were rockets, that they had started flying and that he loved her,” her sister, Geut Harari, said in a telephone interview. “We have not been able to locate him since.”
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His family identified him alive in a clip sent through the Telegram messaging app. The images showed young men illuminated by a bright light, huddled on the floor, some with their hands behind their backs and others trying to shield their faces from the light.
Israel’s ambulance service said its teams were unable to reach the wounded in cities where fighting was taking place. An ambulance was also attacked, the Magen David Adom medical service reported, and one crew member died.