A spokesperson for ZAKA, an Israeli nongovernmental rescue and recovery organization, said Hamas killed 260 people at the event.
As thousands of people danced at a music festival in an Israeli desert area in the early hours of Saturday, Hamas militants from Gaza descended upon the revelry.
Videos show young Israelis dancing to trance music under a giant Buddha statue and prayer flags around dawn — right around when festivalgoer Eliav Klein said he saw rockets launched from Gaza, startling everyone.
A total of 260 people were killed at the event, according to a spokesperson for ZAKA, an Israeli nongovernmental rescue and recovery organization.
Klein said, “There was a traffic jam of cars trying to escape.”
Then gunshots rang out. Amid the chaos, Klein and hundreds of young people began to run on the dry brown earth, out of breath and clutching bags, desperate to reach safety.
The Supernova festival, held in the Negev region, had been planned for weeks.
“Everyone just started running in all directions. Nobody knew where to go,” Klein said. He said he believed festivalgoers totaled in the thousands.
“My friend had to jump off a cliff that was 25 feet high as he was running away from terrorists to save his life,” he added, saying another friend witnessed victims on their knees at gunpoint.
Some people appeared to have been abducted, leaving loved ones unsure of their fates. American and British festivalgoers were also in the crowd, according to Israeli officials and the accounts of family members in the media.
The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, told NBC News “a few” Americans were at the festival.
Noa Argamani, 25, was there with her boyfriend, Avinatan Or. The two appear to have been abducted by Hamas soldiers. She is seen in a video pleading for mercy as she’s taken hostage. In the same video, her boyfriend is restrained by another group of militants, helplessly looking at Argamani as she is dragged away.
Music festivals are common in Israel, drawing young people from around the country, as well as travelers from abroad.
The pressures of Israeli life, including the constant tensions with Gaza and the West Bank and the mandatory military service, have marked the collective character of young Israelis since the founding of the state in 1948. The festivals often reflect the influence of destinations like India and Nepal, where many young Israelis visit after their military service.
Blowing off steam and dancing all night with friends is a cultural right of passage in Israel, a tragic foil to the brutal hostage-taking and murder that took place Saturday.
Klein said he took his friend who was injured from jumping off the cliff to a nearby hospital that was overwhelmed with casualties. As the trauma set in, Klein said, he was still distraught knowing that some of his fellow festivalgoers didn’t make it out. He said he’s still trying to find friends who are missing.