Israeli revellers hide from Hamas militants in music festival massacre

Chilling video shows terrified Israeli revellers hiding in undergrowth and recording messages for loved ones as Hamas gunmen stalked Supernova festival in massacre that left 260 dead

• Festivalgoers were forced to hide in undergrowth to avoid hail of Hamas bullets
• Palestinian militant group stormed Supernova Festival as part of surprise attack
• More than 1,100 people have already been killed in the fresh bloody conflict

Chilling video has emerged of the moment terrified Israeli festivalgoers were forced to hide in the undergrowth to avoid a hail of bullets from Hamas gunmen in a massacre that has left some 260 civilians dead. 

Survivors of the attack posted clips of the ordeal to social media, showing how they were forced to hide under bushes and record hushed farewell messages to their loved ones as they watched victims get killed one by one. 

Many lay still in sheer terror for more than five hours before they heard the sound of armed rescuers speaking in Hebrew. 

The Palestinian militant group stormed the Supernova Festival that had been taking place near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza Strip, as part of its surprise assault launched on Saturday. 

Music at the deadly rave, which survivors said initially had ‘good vibes’, played all night until around 6.30am, when a siren began blaring warning of rockets. 

Festivalgoers knew there was a risk of rocket attacks. What they didn’t expect was truckloads of armed gunmen cutting power to the festival and storming the site, firing indiscriminately into the crowd.

Terrifying footage shows innocent civilians screaming as shots are fired while police are seen trying to help people evacuate. Some are heard shouting, ‘go, go, go!’ as they clasped hands and sprinted away from the oncoming trucks who followed behind and sprayed bullets.

Confirming the horror, the Israeli rescue service Zaka said it had recovered at least 260 bodies in the aftermath of the attack. 

Corpses of young revellers were seen piled up on top of each other in makeshift tents last night as emergency workers tried to identify their remains. 

This morning, harrowing dashcam footage from the incident showed gunmen executing civilians as they lay in the sand before rifling through their pockets and emptying bags from their cars.  

Survivors of the attack, who posted videos of the ordeal to social media, explained how they were forced to hide under bushes to avoid the Hamas gunmen

Some were hiding in the undergrowth for up to five hours before Israeli army units arrived

A distressing image, shared in a pixellated form on the Israeli government’s official Twitter page, showed scores of victims placed in body bags underneath a tent at the festival site

Shocking footage from the aftermath of the attack shows festival tents empty, with abandoned cars of those trying to escape strewn on the side of the road

The Israeli rescue service Zaka tonight said at least 260 bodies have been removed from the festival site. Pictured: Partygoers fleeing the festival scene yesterday morning 

The distressing image, shared in a pixelated form on the Israeli government’s official Twitter page, showed scores of victims placed in body bags at the site of the ‘beautiful party’ that turned into a horrific massacre. 

Footage from the aftermath shows empty festival tents and abandoned cars strewn frantically across the road riddled with bullets.

Many terrified victims had fled across the sand on foot to their cars in an attempt to drive away from the horrors, only to be met with gunfire from attackers piled into jeeps going ‘tree by tree’ in a search for targets. 

Distraught relatives, hoping to find their loved ones, were yesterday asked to bring personal items such as combs and toothbrushes belonging to their missing children so investigators can attempt to match their identification. 

More than 700 Israelis have been killed since Hamas launched its large-scale attack over the weekend, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Monday. Another 1,200 people have been wounded, many critically.

In response, the Israeli army said Monday it hit more than 500 targets in the Gaza Strip in overnight retaliatory strikes on the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of 2.3 million people, with officials there reporting at least 413 Palestinian deaths.

‘Overnight IDF fighter jets, helicopters, aircraft and artillery struck over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,’ the military said in a statement.

Thick plumes of smoke billowed from the Palestinian enclave as the strikes continued in the early hours of the morning.

The death toll from this new war is already well above 1,100. 

People stand among the rubble of a destroyed mosque during Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City on October 9, 2023

Palestinians inspect damages in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, following a Hamas surprise attack, at Beach refugee camp, in Gaza City, October 9, 2023

One heroic Israeli father, Mark Peretz, 50, had raced down to the scene as the scene horror unfolded in hopes of rescuing his 20-year-old daughter Maya. Both (pictured together) remain unaccounted for 

A missile explodes over Gaza City last night as Israel carries out airstrikes following Hamas’ attack 

Hamas fighters circumvented Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip by flying in via paraglider, according to the Israeli military (pictured: an alleged paraglider crossing into Israel)

Peleg Orev, a barman who was working at the festival and left the premises moments before Hamas launched their deadly attack, told Good Morning Britain of the atrocities from the site.

‘They were looking to kill as many people as they can with the main objective to kill innocent people,’ he said.  

Some 260 people have been confirmed dead at the festival ground, but a number of festivalgoers remain missing – with many fearing they are amongst those women, children and elderly victims who have been abducted by Hamas.

One heroic Israeli father, Mark Peretz, 50, had raced down to the scene as the scene horror unfolded in hopes of rescuing his 20-year-old daughter Maya who is amongst the unaccounted for.

Maya was with a group of 12 when she managed to escape the festival by car but they were later forced to abandon the vehicle. 

Mark knew he had been heading into danger when he began his journey south and had been on the phone with his family when gunshots sounded and the call was cut off. 

No one has heard from Mark since, with his son’s friends – all of whom are ex-military – began searching for him. They found his car but no trace of the distressed father.

‘[He] dropped everything and drove there. Even given the situation, given the fact that there were rockets being thrown over our heads. 

‘Given the fact that he saw Hamas terrorists riding into Israel, taking parachutes into Israel… he went to go rescue Maya,’ Mark’s daughter-in-law, Jessica Cohen, 24, told The New York Post. 

He had been around 20 minutes away from Maya when the phone cut out. ‘We were on the phone with him and we heard gunshots, and don’t know exactly sure what happened,’ Jessica added. Both Mark and Maya remain missing. 

Sitting on the back of a terrorist’s motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life

Along with hundreds of other young Israelis, Noa (pictured) and Avi had been enjoying a peace festival in the desert when they were forced to flee for their lives

Yaniv, an emergency worker who was amongst those medics who raced to the scene told public broadcaster Kan News he saw ‘at least 200 bodies of Israelis in the area’.

He said: ‘There are at least 200 bodies of Israelis in the area I was in. It was a massacre.

 ‘I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It was a planned ambush. As people came out of the emergency exits, squads of terrorists were waiting for them there and just started picking them off.

‘There were 3,000 people at the event, so they probably knew it. They had intelligence information.’

Amongst those hiding was Gili Yoskovich, who was forced to shelter beneath a fruit tree in the middle of a field shaking for three hours as bullets flew past her. She hid until she heard people speaking Hebrew and was rescued by Israeli soldiers. 

The mother described how young people – whose night celebrating the end of the Sukkot religious holiday had turned to terror – were dying all around her as Hamas gunmen carried out their killing spree.

‘They were going tree by tree and shooting everywhere from two sides. 

‘I saw people were dying all around. They were all over the place with their automatic weapons. I was very quiet. I didn’t cry, I didn’t do anything,’ she told the BBC.

‘I was… breathing, saying: ‘OK, I’m going to die. It’s OK, just breathe, just close your eyes’.’

Michael Atias, said gunmen were systematically attacking festival-goers as they desperately fled the area.

He told the Times: ‘It started off as a beautiful party, with great vibes and energy. But at around 6.30am, the rocket fire started. Many people panicked and started running to their cars.

‘We heard gunshots and later realized that the gunmen were targeting those who were trying to flee the party — they were waiting for them.’

Terrified partygoers were seen fleeing the festival on foot, running across the sand, trying to jump into cars as Hamas terrorists fired shots 

Israelis could be heard shouting, running, and hurriedly getting into cars as they attempt to escape

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, in the early hours of Monday 

Fire and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City

One partygoer named Ortel said the rockets fired were quickly followed by gunshots being fired from jeeps full of gunmen. 

She told the BBC: ‘They turned off the electricity and suddenly out of nowhere they [militants] come inside with gunfire, opening fire in every direction.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak says Israel has an ‘absolute right to defend itself’ after Hamas militants launched attacks from the Gaza Strip

‘Fifty terrorists arrived in vans, dressed in military uniforms. They fired bursts, and we reached a point where everyone stopped their vehicles and started running.’

As people tried to run through the sand or drive off in their cars, more shots were fired. 

Ortel said she hid in a bush where she watched ‘masses of wounded people thrown around’. 

Meanwhile festival-goer Adam Barel told Haaretz that while they had been aware of the chance of rocket fire, the gunshots came as a shock.

He told the Israeli newspaper that he was among those fleeing to their cars but shots were being fired so he decided it was better to run.  ‘People were hit. We hid. Everyone ran somewhere else,’ he said.

A number of people who attended the peaceful festival in the desert, that coincided with the Jewish festival of Sukkot, are missing.

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City, October 7

Fire and smoke rise in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on Sunday October 8 

Distraught relatives of a missing Israeli are overcome with emotion during a press conference 

A man wipes his eyes as he waits for news about a relative missing following the surprise attack by Hamas 

Last night it was also reported that Doron Asher, 34, was taken hostage by Hamas gunmen and held captive in Gaza

Doron’s two daughters, Raz, five, and Aviv, three, were also reportedly captured by Hamas gunmen

Hamas claimed to have fired 5,000 rockets into Israel from the occupied Gaza Strip, setting off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

READ MORE: Met Police confirms increased patrols in London amid fears of antisemitic attacks on capital’s Jewish communities and huge protests following violence in Israel

Amongst those unaccounted for are Noa Argamani and her boyfriend Avi Nathan. 

Heartbreaking footage showed the 25-year-old student screaming ‘Don’t kill me! N, no, no’ as she was forced onto the back of a motorcycle just metres away from her helpless boyfriend who was held at gunpoint. Both remain missing. 

Widely shared on social media, the footage of Noa’s kidnapping is almost too distressing to bear. ‘Imagine what it is like for her family,’ said her university roommate, Amir Moadi.  

They found out she had been snatched only when they chanced upon the footage online. 

Yesterday her inconsolable father, Yaacov Argamani, sobbed as he voiced his fears for her safety, saying: ‘she was so petrified, so scared’.

Speaking through tears, he said: ‘I was hoping this is a mistake that it’s not true. And then in the hospital a guy asked me if I wanted to see. I said yes and then I know for sure it is Noa… she was so petrified, so scared.’

He then begins to uncontrollably sob. ‘I was always so protective but in this moment I couldn’t protect her,’ he told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 News.

‘All my life since she was born I have tried to protect and hug her, support and love her. I wish I could at this difficult moment at least encourage her or say something to her.’

Noa’s aunt, Yaffe Ohad, said they were ‘crazy with worry’. She said: ‘We know that Noa was kidnapped, probably in the hours of the beginning of the fighting.’

A terrified Gili Yoskovich hid under a tree for three hours as Hamas militants opened fire on defenceless festivalgoers near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza Strip

German tattoo artist named Shani Louk, 30, was in Israel to attend a peace rave

Avi’s brother Moshe also first heard of his brother going missing after seeing the video on social media.

He told Channel 12: ‘We knew that my brother Avinathan and his girlfriend Noa Argamani were at the party and we started to worry. 

‘Their phones were unavailable and after a few hours an emergency team contacted us and said they had seen a video of them being kidnapped in the direction of the Strip.’

Moshe said he found the video on social media seeing his brother, who he described as ‘a big guy’, being held by five people who were he presumed were taking ‘him towards the strip’.

READ HERE: Dramatic moment Gaza’s National Bank building is hit during Israeli air strike as strip suffers its deadliest day in 15 years

The fears of Noa and Avi’s relatives are mirrored in the faces of countless other families who have no idea where their loved ones are alive or whether they are safe after being taken hostage by terrorists. 

One of those captured at the festival was 30-year-old German tattoo artist Shani Louk.

Her lifeless, half-naked body was paraded on the back of a Hamas pick-up trick as militants sat on top of her and jeered following the violent incursion.  

She filmed splayed in the back of a truck, with one leg at an unnatural angle, terrorists sitting around it and supporters of the group cheering, running alongside and spitting on her.

Hamas said the body was a female Israeli soldier but last night it was confirmed to be Shani by her cousin Tomasina Weintraub-Louk.

Tomasina told DailyMail.com that the family recognized her distinctive leg tattoos and dreadlocked hair.

Her mother, Ricarda, released a heartbreaking video begging for help to find out what happened to her daughter.

Holding a picture of Shani on her mobile phone, she said: ‘This morning my daughter, Shani Nicole Louk, a German citizen, was kidnapped with a group of tourists in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas.

Hamas had claimed the body in the truck was a female Israeli soldier – but it was last night confirmed to be tourist Shani by her cousin Tomasina Weintraub-Louk

Shocking footage shared on social media appears to show Palestinian fighters parading Shani’s naked body on the back of a pick-up truck

Shani’s mother, Ricarda, holds up a picture of her daughter on her mobile phone in an emotional video appeal begging for help to find out what happened to her daughter

‘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. Thank you very much.’

Last night it was also reported that Doron Asher, 34, and her two daughters, Raz, five, and Aviv, three, were among Israeli civilians taken hostage by Hamas gunmen and held captive in Gaza. 

As the search continues to find the missing, the death toll in Israel has risen to 700, according to Israeli media sites, with 2,300 being injured. More than 300 have been killed in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes pound the territory.

Hamas has been proscribed as a terror group in its entirety in the UK since 2021. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the attack on Israel yesterday, declaring ‘terrorism will not prevail’ and pledged ‘steadfast support’ to Benjamin Netanyahu as the death toll continues to rise. 

It comes as the family of 20-year-old Nathanel Young, a Briton serving with the Israeli Defence Services, said he had been killed on the Gaza border on Saturday.

Two other UK nationals – 26-year-old Jake Marlowe, who went to the same London school as Mr Young and photographer Danny Darlington – are also thought to be missing.

Nathanel Young, from London, was serving in the 13th Battalion of the Israeli Defence Forces when he was killed yesterday

Jake grew up in Kenton, in North London, and moved to Israel two years ago

Mr Marlowe had been working at the Supernova Festival, near the Gaza Strip, when Palestinian militants stormed onto the site at the crack of dawn. 

He was last seen attempting to help rescue revellers from the killers. 

An embassy source told MailOnline that they do not know whether Mr Marlowe is dead or has been captured.

His mother Lisa told the Jewish News: ‘He was doing security at this rave yesterday and called me at 4.30am to say all these rockets were flying over.

‘Then, at about 5.30am, he texted to say ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you’, and that he loves me.’

She said: ‘Just before he went to live in Israel, he was really worried about the UK situation with the rise of anti-Semitism.

‘He was thinking he should go to Israel because everything that was happening to him in the UK was a lot for him.’

Her partner, Daniel Aboudy, told Sky News that his yearning for more knowledge about his Jewish heritage started during the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘He felt it was duty to trace back to his roots, and find his home that he felt he truly belonged to in Israel.’

According to the Independent, Mr Marlowe sent a message to his friends describing how he was trying to save other people.

The message said: ‘We are seeing it in front of our eyes, we are rounding up the people from the party now, we are on an ATV [quad bike] and we are telling everyone to get the f*** outta there.’ 

Jake Marlowe, 26, is thought to be amongst those who are missing in Israel 

The family of 20-year-old Nathanel Young, a Briton serving with the Israeli Defence Services, said he had been killed on the Gaza border on Saturday

Irish-Israeli citizen, Kim Damti, 22, is also thought to be amongst the missing following the militant’s surprise attack at the festival

Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday after the militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel

Israeli soldiers are pictured at the southern Israeli town of Ofakim on Sunday

Israeli civilians were purportedly taken off the street and driven back into Gaza

Irish-Israeli citizen, Kim Damti, 22, is also thought to be amongst the missing following the militant’s surprise attack at the festival. 

The Irish government said it is contact with the young woman’s family, according to the Irish Times.

Her mother Jennifer, from Portaoise, told the paper: ‘She’s just a brilliant kid. A happy kid trying to have fun.’

Irish premier Leo Varadkar confirmed they were aware of the case. He said: ‘We don’t have any definite detail beyond that, but certainly (we’re) aware of it and willing to offer any consular assistance we can to any Irish citizens or any dual Irish citizens that are caught up in these terrible attacks.’ 

In a statement delivered from Chequers, the Prime Minister said: ‘The scenes that we’ve seen in Israel over the past 36 hours are truly horrifying. 

‘I want to express my absolute solidarity for the people of Israel now is not a time for equivocation, and I’m unequivocal. Hamas, and the people who support Hamas, are fully responsible for this appalling act of terror, for the murder of civilians and for the kidnapping of innocent people, including children.’

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Mr Sunak said he had spoken with the Israeli PM earlier on Sunday to offer the UK’s ongoing support, adding: ‘Terrorism will not prevail.’

Asked what assistance is being provided to British citizens caught up in the conflict, he told reporters: ‘This is a dangerous and fast-moving situation on the ground. And I know that there will be families who are anxious about their loved ones.

‘I want to reassure them that the Foreign Office and the Government here is in close contact with our Israeli counterpart to establish the status of any British nationals on the ground.’

The murders carried out by Hamas terrorists, however, were applauded at a left wing event, called The World Transforms, on the sidelines of the Labour conference yesterday.

Clapping for the bloody violence broke out amongst audience members at a meeting to mark 75 years since the Nakba or ‘catastrophe’ that led to the creation of the Jewish state.

It came as one of the speakers at the event said she was ‘honoured’ to be speaking at such a ‘historic moment’. 

Yasmin Elsouda, an activist and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the audience: ‘I’m honoured to be speaking at such an historic moment, certainly in my lifetime, in our struggle…’

The Israeli flag illuminates Downing Street tonight in solidarity with the people of Israel

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak records a video message about the situation in Israel at Chequers, the official country residence of the Prime Minister

Yasmin Elsouda (right), an activist and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the audience at a fringe event: ‘Yesterday over 230 of our siblings… ascended to martyrdom at the hands of the Zionist entity.’

Jeremy Corbyn, who is still a Labour member despite being kicked out of the parliamentary party, refused to say if he directly condemned Hamas when quizzed by reporters in Liverpool yesterday

The ex-Labour leader pointed to a statement he issued yesterday over the violence during tetchy exchanges with journalists

The event is not officially linked to Labour but was created while Jeremy Corbyn was the party leader.

Corbyn, who is a still a Labour member despite being kicked out of the parliamentary party, refused to directly condemn Hamas when he was quizzed by reporters last night.

Instead the ex-Labour leader pointed to a statement he issued yesterday over the violence during tetchy exchanges with journalists.

‘Why are you interrputing me?,’ Mr Corbyn said. ‘Yesterday I sent out a statement calling for a ceasefire, calling for peace and calling for an end to the occupation of Palestine which, of course, is fundamentally the background to the whole issue.

‘Obviously all attacks are wrong.’

Keir Starmer condemned the ‘appalling’ atrocities in Israel yesterday as he faces pressure to act against Labour MPs and activists who make excuses for Hamas.

The Labour leader decried the ‘acts of terrorism’ as he struggles to stop hard-left figures including Jeremy Corbyn derailing his pre-election conference in Liverpool.

Palestinians are greeted by crowds after returning from crossing the border into Israel on Saturday

People flee as clashes flare between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces in Gaza City following the earlier air strikes on Saturday

A man carries a crying child as they walk past a building destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Saturday

The Met Police has confirmed that officers will step up patrols in London amid fears of antisemitic attacks and protests

In a BBC interview, Sir Keir said the indiscriminate launching of missiles, slaughter of civilians and hostage-taking in Israel was a ‘deliberate’ attempt to set back the peace process.

As the fighting in the Middle East continues into the night, the Metropolitan Police announced it had ramped up ‘reassurance patrols’ in London.

Suella Braverman warned that the ‘full force of the law’ will be used against those who support Hamas or ‘intimidate’ Jews in Britain.

She posted on X this morning to say the government was doing ‘everything necessary’ to protect Jewish communities.

‘Whenever Israel is attacked, Islamists and other racists use Israeli defensive measures as a pretext to stir up hatred against British Jews,’ she wrote.

‘There must be zero tolerance for anti-semitism or glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain. 

‘I expect the police to use the full force of the law against displays of support for Hamas, other proscribed terrorist groups or attempts to intimidate British Jews.’ 

The Home Secretary’s warning comes as images and videos of people waving Palestine flags and celebrating the bloody assault in the capital were shared on social media.

‘People have been brutally murdered and kidnapped and there are people in London dancing’, said Countdown’s Rachel Riley, who is Jewish, after the massacre in Israel unfolded yesterday

Rachel Riley, the Countdown presenter who is Jewish, posted a video on her X account, which showed a number of people celebrating the Hamas atrocity outside a café in Acton, West London.

She tweeted: ‘People have been brutally murdered and kidnapped and there are people in London dancing.’ 

On London’s Edgware Road, nicknamed the capital’s ‘Arab Street’, cars were draped with the Palestinian flag and horns blaring as if there was a football match victory.

Posting a video, a social media user said: ‘Islamists in London celebrating the deaths and captures of innocent civilians. Monsters.’

Motorists were also seen in other parts of London waving the Palestinian flag in celebration.

The latest statistics on hate crimes, released this week, show a rise in religious-based hate crimes in 2022-23 in the UK. 

Jewish communities are the second-most hit by religious-based hate crimes, accounting for 17 percent of all those recorded. 

Islamophobia results in the highest number of religious-based hate crimes per year, and made up 39 percent of them, the latest data shows. 

The Israel-Palestine conflict: recent events in a decades-long dispute

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched its biggest assault on Israel in years early on Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters across the border.

Israel said it was on a war footing and began its own strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, with Israeli media reporting gun battles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in southern Israel.

The following timeline, which begins with Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, details the major flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian groups in the crowded coastal enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people.

August 2005: Israeli forces unilaterally withdraw from Gaza 38 years after capturing it from Egypt in the Middle East war, abandoning settlements and leaving the enclave under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Jan. 25, 2006: The Islamist group Hamas wins a majority of seats in a Palestinian legislative election. Israel and the U.S. cut off aid to Palestinians because Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognise Israel.

June 25, 2006: Hamas militants capture Israeli army conscript Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid from Gaza, prompting Israeli air strikes and incursions. Shalit is finally freed more than five years later in a prisoner exchange.

June 14, 2007: Hamas takes over Gaza in a brief civil war, ousting Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank.

Dec. 27, 2008: Israel launches a 22-day military offensive in Gaza after Palestinians fire rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. About 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis are reported killed before a ceasefire is agreed.

Nov. 14, 2012: Israel kills Hamas’s military chief of staff, Ahmad Jabari. Eight days of Palestinian militant rocket fire and Israeli air strikes follow.

July-August 2014: The kidnap and killing of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas leads to a seven-week war in which more than 2,100 Palestinians are reported killed in Gaza and 73 Israelis are reported dead, 67 of them military.

March 2018: Palestinian protests begin at Gaza’s fenced border with Israel. Israeli troops open fire to keep protestors back. More than 170 Palestinians are reported killed in several months of protests, which also prompt fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces.

May 2021: After weeks of tension during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, hundreds of Palestinians are wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, Islam’s third holiest site.

After demanding Israel withdraw security forces from the compound, Hamas unleashes a barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel hits back with air strikes on Gaza. Fighting goes on for 11 days, killing at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel.

Aug 2022: At least 44 people, including 15 children, are killed in three days of violence that begin when Israeli air strikes hit a senior Islamic Jihad commander.

Israel says the strikes were a pre-emptive operation against an imminent attack by the Iranian-backed militant movement, targeting commanders and arms depots. In response, Islamic Jihad fires more than 1,000 rockets towards Israel. Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system prevents any serious damage or casualties.

Jan 2023: Islamic Jihad in Gaza fires two rockets towards Israel after Israeli troops raid a refugee camp and kill seven Palestinian gunmen and two civilians. The rockets set off alarms in Israeli communities near the border but cause no casualties. Israel responds with air strikes on Gaza.

Oct 2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in years from the Gaza Strip, with a surprise assault combining gunmen crossing the border with a heavy barrage of rockets. Islamic Jihad says its fighters have joined the attack.

Israel’s military said it was on a war footing, adding it had carried out strikes targeting Hamas in Gaza and had called up reservists.

Source: Reuters 

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