GAZA: The terrifying attack on an Israeli music festival was just one of multiple locations hit by the most sustained and coordinated assault inside Israel ever carried out by Hamas militants, the media reported.
The gunmen left multiple revelers dead at the scene and at least one attendee was taken hostage, seen in social media video, authenticated and geolocated by CNN, being paraded and unconscious around Gaza by armed militants.
The outdoor Nova Festival event in a rural farmland area near the Gaza-Israel border was supposed to be an all-night dance party, celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. But as dawn broke, Tal Gibly said they began hearing sirens and rockets.
“We didn’t even have any place to hide because we were at [an] open space,” she told CNN. “Everyone got so panicked and started to take their stuff.”
Explosions can be heard in video taken by Gibly of her and friends walking through the quickly emptying concert grounds, roughly two miles from the border.
Video circulating on social media shows hundreds of attendees fleeing their cars, running across an empty field with gunshots echoing in the background.
Details of hostages from the attack are beginning to emerge as family members recognise relatives in videos circulating from Gaza.
In one video authenticated by CNN, an unconscious woman could be seen being displayed by armed militants in Gaza.