CBS: An aerial picture shows the site of the attack on a music festival by Hamas militants near Kibbutz Re’im in the Negev desert in southern Israel on October 10, 2023. JACK GUEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
October 7, 2023 marked the end of the widely celebrated Jewish holiday Sukkot. According to Britannica, Sukkot, the “Jewish autumn festival of double thanksgiving that begins on the 15th day of Tishri (in September or October), five days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.” It is one of the three Pilgrimage festivals within the Hebrew Bible, and is a significant celebration of “remembrance for when the Israelites lived in huts (sukkot) during their years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt.” Although October 7, 2023 now has a greater meaning for the wider Jewish community after the terrorist group Hamas executed “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” beginning in the early hours of the morning and prompting the start of a bloody and vicious war between Israel and the terrorist group, who reside in the Gaza strip of Palestine.
CBS, YASIN DEMIRCI/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
As seen in the graphic above, the operation effectuated by the Hamas militants on October 7th was a premeditated and highly coordinated attack on various Israeli towns across the border. (CBS) About 1,500 Hamas fighters flooded into Israel by land, sea, and paragliders with rockets beginning around 6:30am.
“I feel let down by the army,” Levy said. “… I lost like two liters of blood, and I was really sure … that that’s it, I am going to die. And I told my parents, like, ‘all good, I’m OK,’ but when I told them that, I was with both my legs, like, popped out.”
Festivalgoer Gal Levy, 22 (via CBS)
To focus in on one point of battle, The Supernova Festival near Re’im was a particularly pitiless and fatal point of conflict for the citizens involved. The festival, intended to be an all night dance festival or party to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot on which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, turned into a bloody massacre just over three miles from the Gaza border. Sixteen DJs from all over the world performed for between 3,000 and 4,000 festivalgoers most (based on video footage) under 30, over what was supposed to be a 15 hour celebration. In addition to many abductions, at least 260 bodies were found at this site, a particularly staggering number as there were about 1,200 casualties across the entire initial attack. (BBC) The festival was located in a field outside Kibbutz Re’im, making it a perfect spot for both a festival and unfortunately, a brutal attack. Located in the Negev desert forces a very flat and expansive area for festivalgoers to enjoy and dance, people describe the location as an open space that forces running away as the only possible escape plan, and many ran directly into the surrounding Hamas militants.
CBS: Destroyed vehicles are seen near the grounds of a music festival after a deadly attack by Hamas militants, near Re’im, Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. ILIA YEFIMOVICH/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES
This attack is incredibly impactful due to the video proof that was streamed live, uploaded before, during and after the incident, all in addition to survivor accounts and photo evidence typically available after cataclysmic events. Car dashcam footage, Instagram Live segments, and Tiktok videos all are various sources used by the civilian festivalgoers to share their experience.
“We arrived at the party at three o’clock in the morning, all the friends met and celebrated life,” festivalgoer Michal Ohana, 27, tells Rolling Stone. “At 6 a.m., the hell started.”
Rolling Stone
Additional Interactive Resources:
An interactive CNN special report: “How a rave celebrating life turned into a frenzied massacre” gives vivid video and analytical context to this event.
Another Wall Street Journal report: “How Hamas Turned an Israeli Music Festival Into a Massacre“ provides video from the festivalgoers in timeline.
A BBC article: “Supernova festival: How massacre unfolded from verified video and social media” shares more video, photo, and graphic information.
2 Comments
I think your quotes and Images very very impactful in relation to your topic.
Your writing is great and it captures the severity of the situation accurately. The images help communicate the message very well