Key Points
- At least 260 people were killed when Hamas militants raided a trance music festival in southern Israel on Saturday.
- The festival campsite remains in a state of disarray, with abandoned tents and possessions littering the ground.
- Members of the Israeli Defence Forces were still securing the area days later, insisting that it was "not safe."
Haner Cohen was in a state of bliss at Supernova music festival, feeling "free love" from those surrounding him on the dance floor in the early hours of the morning. But it turned into indescribable horror as near the border with Gaza, killing at least 260 people.
"We lost a lot of friends, a lot of people, a lot of brothers to the dancefloor," Cohen, who organised the rave, told SBS News.
"We still don't know what happened. We just know that one minute… everybody was free love, free spirit, and in a matter of seconds it was a nightmare; hell."
Haner Cohen, the organiser of the Supernova rave in southern Israel, recalls the confusion and chaos as Hamas militants attacked. Source: SBS News
By the time people realised what was going on, it was too late for many of them to get away.
The festival campsite remains littered with abandoned tents, belongings, and cars strewn with bullet holes and splashed with blood — all of it left behind by fleeing campers. Camp chairs sit eerily empty among the debris, along with unopened sleeping bags, water bottles, and shoes. In the bushes are the remains of a torched bus. Forensics experts are still sorting through the ashes, but it's believed people may have been burned alive inside.
While SBS was visiting the site, an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldier fired warning shots near a Palestinian man who was suspected of carrying a weapon — highlighting the volatility of the situation days after the massacre.
"[This is] not a safe site," an IDF soldier told SBS News.
"Everybody's a bit edgy… rules of engagement: you saw someone suspicious who wasn’t carrying, we feel secure enough not to shoot him on the spot. Two fires in the air, we saw he wasn’t carrying, and we stopped it."
That dawn raid on Saturday, in which Hamas militants swooped into Israel from Gaza and killed hundreds of people, already ranks as the deadliest Palestinian militant attack in the country's 75-year history.
The festival campsite, which many people initially fled to during the attack, remains littered with abandoned cars and possessions. Source: SBS News
The significant escalation is the latest boiling point in a long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas' stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
