‘One week after Israel festival massacre, I am haunted by images of my dead friends’

A survivor of the Israeli music festival massacre remains haunted by witnessing the death of his friends as he escaped slaughter at the hands of Hamas militants.

One week ago, the Supernova music festival in Israel came under attack as Hamas fighters stormed the all-night rave and opened fire on terrified party-goers.

Thousands of young people were partying at dawn when the militants began shooting indiscriminately, killing some people and taking others hostage.

The concert was attended by around 3,500 people, about three miles from the border of the Gaza Strip and as frightened festival attendees heard rockets and gunshots instead of music, they fled in panic.

Survivor Ilya Pisatzkov, 33, who lives in Tel Aviv, told i about the terrifying experience and the trauma of losing people he knows in such brutal circumstances.

At least 10 people he personally knows are dead, while many others were injured or kidnapped during the attack.

“The terrorists knew there was a party going on and this was a deliberate operation with the goal of killing as many civilians as possible,” he said.

There have been allegations that Hamas fighters raped or sexually assaulted women, including as they stormed the festival. The evidence for this is still emerging.

Mr Pisatzkov said: “It wasn’t just killing – it was the brutal murdering of innocent people and the cruel rape of girls at the festival next to the bodies of their dead friends.

“These levels of evil are incomprehensible.

“They are not normal and [it is] not human to do these types of things.”

Mr Pisatzkov, a computer science engineer working in cyber security, attended the open-air festival friends. He knew around 200 of the people attending the gig.

He and his friends were getting their camping gear ready and entering the gates of the site when they heard explosions and knew something serious was unfolding.

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He said: “Thousands of defenceless people who were just there to party were suddenly faced with hundreds of armed terrorists who were shooting everywhere and trying to kill as many civilians as possible.”

Mr Pisatzkov managed to get back into his car and flee from the scene with his friends but soon spotted a shelter they thought they could hide in to avoid the bullets of gunmen attacking people as they made their escape.

“Every hundred yards or so that we had passed while driving, we had seen crushed cars with dead bodies lying next to them and we knew we had to get away.

“As soon as we got out of the car, we heard and felt nonstop gunshots and bullets were coming from all directions.

“We saw cars next to us getting hit by bullets. I saw a girl running towards the shelter and all I could think was: ‘please don’t let her get shot.’ I was in total shock.

“I was just lying there under our car with my hands on my head. For one second, I lifted my head to see what was going on and a bullet whistled past my ear and missed me by inches.”

Mr Pisatzkov and his friends decided to keep driving, avoiding explosions, until they managed to get to a village where they sat for several hours with knives in their hands, he said.

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But he and his friends remain haunted by the sights they saw at the festival, while others are dead, injured or missing.

“At least 10 people who I personally knew are dead and several have been kidnapped and many others are injured,” he said.

“One of the young women who was murdered was a very good friend of mine.

“She was the girlfriend of one of my best friends and they had a trip to Thailand planned next week when he was planning to propose to her – but now she is dead.

“I have already been to two funerals this week and unfortunately, I know they won’t be the only ones.

“Regardless of what you believe, where you live or what your religion is, you simply cannot justify or accept acts of terror like this.

“You cannot accept things like murder and rape or any type of action which is deliberately aimed at hurting civilians. This evil needs to be destroyed at all costs.”