October 7 > Nova Festival > Testimony of Ron S
I am Ron S. and I survived the massacre at the Nova nature party. This is going to be a long testimony, but it's important for me to open up and share. Early Saturday morning was one of the dozens if not hundreds of times that the group in the picture below (minus those who were fortunately elsewhere) was getting ready to head out to a nature party in one of the magical spots that our country has to offer.
It was a bit after 2:30 am and we were at the entrance to the party. By 3:00 am, we were already set up, and went for a walk between the stands and the dance floors. s time went on, more and more friends arrived at the kanta [tented resting area]. There were nearly 30 of us, all there to celebrate together, the same crew that was at Ozora [another nature party].
The sun started to shine, it warmed our bodies, and we found ourselves in moments of joy and euphoria. Everything was perfect.
Suddenly, red alert sirens. My dad called me a second after they started, telling me there were rockets and red alert sirens in the area. In a desperate attempt to calm my father down, I assured him we were safe and sheltered, and that as soon as the rockets stopped, we would get out of there. The call was cut off. Of course, there was no shelter and no buildings; we were in a completely open area.
In a moment of fear and sobriety, I shouted to my brother [Dan], Adir, and Sarah, “Grab your bags, we’re getting out of here.” We hid behind some trees, as if they could protect us.
At one point, we tried to make a rational decision about what to do, but we couldn’t reach a consensus. I ran towards the car so that it would be close if we decided to escape.
For about fifteen minutes, the air was filled with rockets and sirens, accompanied by faint echoes of gunshots in the distance. We still didn't know what was happening and we thought that it might be shooting from Gaza, maybe at the army, or maybe the army was protecting us. After a few minutes, Adir got into the driver’s seat and we decided to leave.
At the end of the dirt road, as we reached the main road and prepared to turn right, we saw cars approaching from that direction, and people said to us that there were gunshots from that direction. So instead we turned left, and there was a huge traffic jam. At a certain point, the gunshots got really close, no more than 200 meters away from us, and getting closer. At that stage, however, we still hadn’t grasped the magnitude of the situation.
“At a certain point, the gunshots got really close, no more than 200 meters away from us, and getting closer.”
We left the car behind. My brother and I ran to the right, while Adir and Sarah ran to the left. I glanced towards the escape route of thousands of partygoers, and saw that we had a long way ahead of us. So I ran back to the car, put some water in my bag, and started running.
All this unfolded as the gunshots were getting closer, and policemen with guns drawn were waiting for those [the terrorists] who hadn't arrived yet.
While my brother and I looked for Adir and Sarah, we also realized that from then on, we need to move forward, not to stop at any cost. We were in contact with Adir and Sarah every few minutes, and understood they were already far ahead of us. We assumed that they were safe, wherever they were, because they were far from the gunshots that were close to us.
“However, we quickly discovered that this was only the beginning. The real madness was about to start."
We were terrified. We didn't understand what was happening and we didn’t know what to do next. Where should we go? Where was it safe? What was going on? Was the army responding? We had so many questions and no one knew the answers. For a moment, we thought we might have escaped and that the situation would soon be under control. However, we quickly discovered that this was only the beginning. The real madness was about to start. We were moving towards the sun, unsure of the destination. A police officer told us to run towards the next line of defense. We didn't really know where, and in retrospect, we know that wasn't one either.
At this point, the shots had already reached us, coming from behind and from the right. There was chaos, people running in every direction. The entire time, we kept our heads down and continued running. After maybe an hour within this ordeal, with bullets whizzing all around us, we thought of going down to the wadi [ditch] where there were a lot of other people. A second before doing so, I stopped my brother and told him that down there, we would be an easy target, and that we must stay on higher ground. I grabbed him by the hand and pulled him back up. Seconds later there were shots below us.
“At this moment, about an hour and a half after it had all begun, I started to lose my grip on reality.”
We didn't stay to watch what had happened, but continued running. At this moment, about an hour and a half after it had all begun, I started to lose my grip on reality. I told my brother that these must be shots from the army, that it wasn’t real, that it was staged. My brother Dan pulled me out of it within a few minutes, all while we were still running.
Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people around us. We moved forward and every few meters, we saw groups of people hiding. We stopped next to them for a few seconds and continued moving forward. I still can't remember anyone's face. Our eyes were only searching for Adir and Sarah, who were in contact with us every few minutes.
We moved forward, and the shots were now upon us. Again, we decided to hide in the descent to the wadi. It was a very steep slope. We crawled down, gripping earth and rocks so as not to slip. The shots stopped for a few seconds, and that had been our signal to keep running. I looked up and saw above me two bikers with black helmets, terrorists. They didn't see us and within a few seconds, they moved along.
We climbed back up the slope and continued running. Once more, shots were fired, the bullets striking the ground next to us, the sand exploding all around us.
We hid behind a car along with someone else. The shooting stopped again, and again, we started running. Somehow, for a few minutes, shots were being fired in other directions, and my brother and I kept running for a while. For those who don't know, my brother Dan has asthma and it was difficult for him to keep running. We took a break for 30 seconds next to a tree, and I told him we have to keep going. He got up right away, and we kept going.
At that moment, a flurry of images raced through my mind, pictures of friends, family, all the people I love. The thought that crossed my mind during those moments: no matter what, we will do everything to stay alive. We’d already been on the brink of death 30 or 40 times in the last few hours. Giving up was not an option. I was determined to bring my little brother home to my parents, and my friends Adir and Sarah.
"And then suddenly this happened: the sound of a car, idling and abandoned. We ran towards it, hopped in, I floored the gas pedal, and we sped away."
Shots were fired at us again. I shouted at my brother to crawl towards the cars. He told me that a bullet had passed right by his hand. While we were crawling quietly, the shots that had once been distant were now dangerously close. They were there next to us, maybe 30 or 50 meters away. It felt like it was already the end. I shouted at Dan to run towards the cars and hide there. We heard bullets hitting the cars we were hiding behind. And then suddenly this happened: the sound of a car, idling and abandoned. We ran towards it, hopped in, I floored the gas pedal, and we sped away.
We drove away as the shooting continued behind us. Every minute, other people got into the car with us, while bullets were being fired all around us. Three hours into the event, and still, we couldn’t find our friends Adir and Sarah. We were in contact with them the whole time, but we couldn’t share our location because we were under stress, and there were constant problems with the phone reception.
“Someone in the car shouted, 'Drive! Our lives are in danger, drive!' and at that moment I told everyone that I'm not leaving without my friends.”
Someone in the car shouted, "Drive! Our lives are in danger, drive!" and at that moment I told everyone that I'm not leaving without my friends.
Everyone in the car had my back. They were so brave, all of them! They knew that they were putting themselves at risk, they were afraid, but they were steadfast in the decision not to leave Adir and Sarah behind.
I made a U-turn and drove back towards the shootings, trying to find them among the trees and bushes. A security person who was there told us that we were headed in the wrong direction, he didn’t know that we had a different goal. And suddenly, it happened: we managed to share our location with Adir and Sarah. I made another U-turn, this time moving away from the gunshots. After an extended search, I glanced to the right, and there they were—my friends, running towards the vehicle. We somehow managed to squeeze them in. At that moment, we wished to believe we were saved, but it didn't end there.
We found ourselves in the field, unsure of which direction to take. We turned on Google Maps, and decided to head towards [Kibbutz] Be’eri. On the way, our car got stuck in the mud. Everyone who was in the car got out and helped try to get the car out of the mud. There was also someone there, I think he came from another vehicle. He came out to help us with sheer strength. He pushed the car out of the mud with his own two hands - twice!
"People were hiding everywhere, some were running away, and screams of fear echoed from every direction."
We passed the mud obstacle and continued driving towards Be’eri. People were hiding everywhere, some were running away, and screams of fear echoed from every direction.
We were on the road at the entrance to Be’eri. I looked to the left and saw some suspicious faces. I continued driving, thinking "Something doesn't feel right to me," and within seconds Sarah shouted, "Ron, the gate is open. It shouldn't be open! Turn around!" That was the only encouragement I needed to make a U-turn and get out of there. Looking back, we realized that in those moments, the situation in Be’eri had been been out of control.
We continued driving through the field, completely unaware that the whole area was under attack. After a while, we stumbled upon a road. Switching on Waze, I hit the accelerator to make our escape. A few minutes after that, my brother Dan said to me, “Ron, I don't feel well, take me to the hospital.” We were worried that he might be having a heart attack.
We arrived at the entrance to Ofakim and saw a policeman at the intersection. We begged him to call an ambulance and he said that there were no ambulances in the entire area. Everyone got back in the car and just as we were about to resume our journey, another [rocket] siren sounded.
We ran out of the car to crouch on the ground [to shelter from the rockets] and out of habit I turned off the car. Ben, who had joined us along the way, asked me if I had the code for the car. Without a moment of hesitation, I ran back to the car and started it, just seconds before it would have automatically locked. I ran back to my group and we all crouched on the ground.
After a few seconds, we decided that’s it, we need to get away from there. Once more, everyone got in the car and we took off. I was speeding at 180 km/h, driving through red lights, passing vehicles right and left. We slowed down as we approached the checkpoints and put our hands outside the windows, for fear that our forces might mistake us for a threat and shoot us.
We arrived at Soroka [the hospital in Be’er Sheva] and started to understand what was happening. We were among the first people to arrive. We were all okay, including my brother, who underwent tests and was confirmed to be fine. I will never forget the scenes that followed: a hospital flooded with wounded people, blood on the floor, and every second, more vehicles and more ambulances arrived.
“I will never forget the scenes that followed: a hospital flooded with wounded people, blood on the floor, and every second, more vehicles and more ambulances arrived.”
Luckily for us, two amazing people named Tal and Adir H. were by our side and helped me recover after I fell apart. They also brought us to their home and took care of us the entire Shabbat. Their mother, Ronit H., is an amazing woman who raised an amazing family.
She helped us restore our sanity and made sure that we received the love that we were missing from our parents, who were still in the center [central region of Israel]. T
he H. family was the first aid to my soul and without them, I would not be the same person.
On October 7, 2023, that is the day I chose to live, that is the day I was reborn.
[Ron and his brother Dan]
Ron S.