October 7 > Nova Festival > Testimony of Lital A
Now that I’ve had time to process what I have been though, it is important our story be heard:
We arrived at the party at 03:30.
Everything was so beautifully decorated.
With incredible, good-hearted people who came to have a good time. A spectacular, well-organized festival.
At 06:30, right at the break of dawn, the sirens began.
The event organizer yelled into the microphone, “Party over, there are sirens.”
Everyone started running in every direction.
The line of cars was long and we decided to wait awhile for the rockets to cease.
At 07:00 we were informed of the terrorist infiltration. That same second, we rushed to our cars.
We drove exactly one meter before we heard that the terrorists were shooting at every vehicle that reached the road.
We decided to stay close to the security guards and policemen of the rave who were armed. We sat with them, tried to relax and understand what was happening, and then we heard the gunshots were close.
"All that was left was to pray to God for a miracle"
We ran into a caravan and locked ourselves in. The gunshots were getting closer, and some stray bullets shot through the caravan. We tried to keep completely silent.
And then we heard them, those monsters, outside the caravan, hitting their rifles against our windows, trying to open the door. More shots, then they left the caravan to continue their rampage.
They returned and tried to force open the caravan again.
And on it went, for 8 (!!!!!) hours. At some point, they tried to steal the caravan and attach it to their own vehicle. There were 6 people in the caravan.
And it was hot.
So hot.
We mustn’t move.
Can’t utter a word, they mustn't hear that we’re in here. We kept calling the police in whispers when we heard the terrorists retreating. Nobody came We’ve been abandoned.
The air in the caravan was running out. Our entire bodies aching and prickling. We tried to keep each other awake. How long will our luck last? We came to terms with the fact that we wouldn’t make it out alive. Our phone batteries ran out.
All that was left was to pray to God for a miracle.
Luckily, we had a lot of miracles.
We saw an army hummer approaching. We peeked out the window to see if it was our soldiers, and not, God forbid, terrorists who’d taken over an army hummer.
We opened the door, and a soldier yelled over to us to run to them. Those were the longest 300 meters of my life. Running barefoot, between the glass of shattered cars,
In a field of thorns, we ran to them as fast as we could, because the terrorists were still close by. We reached the tent set for the wounded and started realizing that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Every half meter, there was another corpse"
Anyone who wasn’t wounded or in shock tried to take care of the wounded.
There was so much blood, so many people were in complete shock. People were alone because all the friends they’d come with had been killed. Then an officer entered the tent and asked for the car keys. In broken cars, they evacuated the wounded. When the last wounded had been evacuated, we took one of the remaining cars that had been shattered by the terrorists but were still functioning. And then we saw the extent of the tragedy.
Every half meter, there was another corpse.
Policemen, soldiers, paramedics, young people who had come to the party.
Women, men, everything.
When we reached the road we saw a line of cars about one kilometer long on either side of the road. By every car, there was a body. I’ll never forget that scene in my life. We drove through the bodies. Every few meters, going down to the side of the road because cars or bodies were stranded in the middle.
But still driving as fast as we can, because the terrorists are still around!
We got to the assembly point in Ofakim.
Took a breath, and started to look for ways to get home. We had a miracle.
God was personally watching over us. Call it however you want.
They could have shot at our caravan, lit it on fire like they did the cars, or dragged us out and hauled us into Gaza.
And where were the security forces for 8 f*king hours?!
I don’t honestly know how to describe the terror and horror we witnessed.
Grateful for our lives that we got as a gift.
Nothing should be taken for granted.
Hoping for quieter days with peace soon, and for all our hostages to return home safely.
I grieve with the families who lost their loved ones, who just went to a party.
My heart is broken.
Lital A.