October 7th Massacre/Re’im Music Festival

Supernova Sukkot Gathering was a weekend-long outdoor trance music festival that began on 6 October 2023 and was produced by an organizer called Nova (also referred to as Tribe of Nova). It was the Israeli edition (pre-festival event) of Universo Paralello, a psychedelic trance festival started 23 years prior in Bahia, Brazil. It took place in the western Negev desert, approximately 5 km from the Gaza–Israel barrier, near kibbutz Re'im.

At 6:22, alarms were heard in the party, where 4,400 people were present. At 6:24, the district commander decided to close the party, and the police started evacuation. Meanwhile, terrorists infiltrated the complex, and at 6:27 started shooting at Re’im junction. The commander of the station and an officer who was in the area returned fire. At 8:00, the Yamas police unit joined to the fighting. The terrorists also entered the nearby kibbutz Re’im. At 8:30, Yoav unit joined the battle. At 9:00, the Israeli Border Police started evacuating injured people, and at 10:03 a multiple casualty incident was declared. At 14:00, the police declared full control on the party complex. 364 civilians were murdered in the party complex, 40 were taken as hostages. 15 policemen were killed in the battle as well as in the process of evacuating civilians. In the nearby kibbutz Re’im, the battle continued until 21:00.

On the morning of October 8th, a woman who was searching her friend in the aftermath of the festival filmed a video which later became viral and was known as “the woman in the black dress”. In the video, a woman was seen lying on her back with her dress torn. Her face was unrecognizable and her eyes were covered by her right hand. Many people commented, trying to figure out if the woman is their relative. Her family recognized her as Gal, who was murdered in the festival with her husband. When terrorists approached her while she was stuck in a traffic jam of people trying to flee the festival, she wrote her last WhatsApp message to her family: “You don’t understand”.

Israeli police officials believe that Gal was raped, a claim supported by video evidence and verified by the New York Times. Sexual assaults by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women were not isolated events but a general pattern which repeated in all places they attacked.

Sapir, an accountant, has been one of the key witnesses. She recounted the events to investigators as well as to the New York Times. On October 7th at 8 AM, she was near route 232 and 4 miles southwest of the party, bonding under the branches of a bushy tamarisk tree. She fell faint after getting shot in the back. After that she covered herself with dry grass and laid still.

Cars, motorcycles, and trucks pulled up near the hiding place. She testified seeing about 100 men getting out of the vehicles. They passed assault rifles, grenades, and small missiles, and attacked women.

A young woman with copper hair was the first victim Sapir witnessed. Her pants were pushed down to her knees and blood ran down her back. One man pulled her hair and forced her to bend over, while another penetrated her and stabbed her every time she flinched.

Another woman, who also got raped by a terrorist, was “shredded into pieces” by another one who sliced off her breast. They started to throw her breast and play with it until it fell in the road. They then sliced her face, and the woman fell out of view. She provided photographs, and police officials who heard the testimony released a video with her face blurred. A 22-year old security consultant named Yura can be seen in one of Sapir's photos hiding in the same spot. He didn’t lift his head much, but also describes terrorists raping and murdering women.

Sapir can hardly sleep since this day. She frequently wakes up at night covered in sweat and with her heart beating. She also struggles with a painful rash that spread across her torso. She told about this day the following:

That day, I became an animal. I was emotionally detached, sharp, just the adrenaline of survival. I looked at all this as if I was photographing them with my eyes, not forgetting any detail. I told myself: I should remember everything.

During the same morning, a young Israeli by the name of Raz Cohen, who also took part in the festival, was hiding in another location near Route 233. He hid in a dried-up streambed about a mile southwest of the party area. He saw a white van pull up in front of him, and 5 men in civilian clothes dragged a young naked woman out of the van. All the terrorists carried knives, and one of them carried a hammer. Raz testified the following:

They all gather around her. She’s standing up. They start raping her. I saw the men standing in a half circle around her. One penetrates her. She screams. I still remember her voice, screams without words. Then one of them raises a knife, and they just slaughtered her.

One of Raz’s friends by the name of Shoam Gueta also hid in the same streambed. He testified seeing at least 4 men getting out of the van and attacking a woman. They were giggling, talking, and shouting. One of them repeatedly stabbed her and “literally butchering her”.

The first volunteer medical arrived at the site hours later. They testified seeing dead bodies of women without underwear and with their legs spread. Some of them were tied. Jamal Waraki, a ZAKA volunteer could not get the image of a woman with her hands tied, half naked, with her underwear below her knees, and bent over.

Yinon Rivlin, one of the producers of the festival, lost 2 brothers in it. He hid from the terrorists, and later went to the parking to search for survivors. He saw near the highway a young woman with no underway or pants, lying on her stomach with her legs spread apart. Her vagina area was slashed open.