Israel Supernova festival massacre: Death toll after Hamas attack

The festival, which was taking place in the desert near Kibbutz Re’im — close to the border with Gaza — was attacked by Hamas gunman on Saturday morning.

Harrowing footage posted on social media showed people fleeing in panic from Hamas militants.

ZAKA, a volunteer group that deals with human remains after terror attacks and natural disasters, told Israeli media it had collected the bodies of more than 250 people.

The death toll is expected to rise.

Tattoo artist Shani Louk, 30, was one of the people seized from the festival.

The German national’s partly-naked and battered body was later paraded through the street by Hamas fighters as people spat on her body.

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan wrote: “I cannot imagine how horrific a massacre this must have been. 260 people gunned down. To put that in context, that’s the equivalent of more than five Pulse nightclub shootings. Heartbreaking.”

When rockets were first fired overhead, some people mistook the noise as being “part of the music”.

It wasn’t long after sirens went off that the shooting started.

A person identified as Ortel told Israel’s Channel 12: “They turned off the electricity and suddenly out of nowhere they [militants] come inside with gunfire, opening fire in every direction.

“Fifty terrorists arrived in vans, dressed in military uniforms,” she said.

Noya Reuven, 20, told the Times of Israel that there was mass panic as thousands of people ran to their vehicles.

She said she heard gunshots being fired into the crowd and saw people run in all directions.

There was virtually nowhere to hide because the festival was taking place in an open space.

Gunmen in jeeps also shot at people trying to flee in their cars.

Ortel said: “They fired bursts, and we reached a point where everyone stopped their vehicles and started running.

“I went into a tree, a bush like this, and they just started spraying people. I saw masses of wounded people thrown around and I’m in a tree and trying to understand what’s going on,” she said according to a BBC report.

A number of people were also taken hostage.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have claimed that 130 Israelis are being held captive in Gaza, including Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

One of those is Israeli woman Noa Argamani.

Harrowing footage showed her screaming “don’t kill me” as she was grabbed by militants.

She stretched her arms out towards her boyfriend Avi Natan as she was carried away.

Later footage showed her drinking from a water bottle in Gaza.

German tattoo artist Shani Louk was among those killed.

Footage of her body being displayed on the back of a truck sparked outrage.

Her mother Ricarda later posted a heartbreaking video and said: “We were sent a video in which I could clearly see our daughter unconscious in the car with the Palestinians and them driving around the Gaza Strip. I ask you to send us any help or any news.”

The outdoor trance music festival started at 11pm on Friday night and continued all night until the attack took place. It was attended by thousands of people aged between 20 and 40, from various countries including the US and Australia. About 70 per cent of attendees were from Israel.

Parents of youth who were attending the festival have been frantically searching for news of their missing children.

A Facebook page has been set up to help search for survivors which shows the faces of smiling young people from Israel and other countries, along with their phone numbers.