The videos of visitors to the Universo Parallelo Festival in Israel running for their lives are buzzing through the media thousands of times. Horrifying footage captured during the Islamist Hamas terrorist attack on the Trance festival on October 7th. Now some of the survivors are speaking out. On the Instagram account @survived.to.tellwhich went online on October 10th and was organized by the NGO “Israel Is You”, the young people talk about the traumatic experience.
The descriptions all start similarly: the visitors dance exuberantly at the festival on Saturday morning until suddenly shots, sirens and bomb explosions can be heard. Then the screams that terrorists are on the premises. Although most people quickly became aware of the seriousness of the situation, it was only later that they realized the enormous scale of the terrorist attack.
Raz was one of them. He is the first to share his perspective on the Instagram account. He remembers how he and his friends ran north. “It felt like we were in a shooting range. She [die Terroristen] “We even laughed,” says the young man about the frightening experience. He hid in some bushes by the stream for six to seven hours. Although this hiding place saved his life, the images of people being shot and stabbed remain in his memory. With tears in his eyes, Raz remembers the screams. After hours of waiting in silence and hunger, they were found by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). A police officer sees them taking refuge in his home in the Israeli town of Ofakim.
Most people, on the other hand, ran for their lives – endlessly across the open fields and forests. “We looked to the left – terrorists, we looked to the right – terrorists. The only option was to keep running straight ahead,” says 23-year-old Guy, who was also on the festival site during the attack.
And Sagi also left the car behind and started sprinting. After four hours and 20 kilometers of non-stop running, he reached a moshav called Patish, where he was received and found refuge. “It was as if we were war refugees,” the festival visitor remembers the reception. “It was like a war movie.”
Sahar was in a bunker with around 30 other people. An armed police officer advised them to seek shelter there. But there too they found the Hamas shots that first killed the officer. The Islamist terrorist militia threw a first hand grenade into the entrance to the shelter. The second one bounced off the wall and hit Sahar in the head. It was a miracle that the bomb flew over other bodies behind him, which “dampened the explosion.” Between his words, Sahar has to be brief and find the strength to continue speaking into the microphones that are pointed at him.
Most survivors have to live on knowing that some of their friends were killed or kidnapped. Many still have no idea what happened to their loved ones and whether they will ever see each other again. Maya, who also spoke out on the social media profile, spoke on behalf of many others: “This story feels so surreal. So many people didn’t make it. And we all basically just went to a party.”