NOVA Survival Story

We arrived at the Re'im parking lot, set up a small table, and began the evening together, just the three of us, having fun.

We entered the festival grounds. The decorations were impressive, and we started looking for a place to set up our tents.

Ofek went to sleep and asked us to wake him up at sunrise.

Sahar and I, Darya, went to the dance floor and enjoyed the music. We went to the bar, laughed, came back, and continued enjoying the night.

We woke Ofek up, just like he had asked.

We returned to the dance floor. Ofek was still waking up, wrapped in a blanket, not yet warmed up from dancing.

I needed to use the bathroom. As I started walking and turned around, I saw countless rockets in the sky. I ran back to Ofek and Sahar, panicked, telling them to look because I could not believe what I was seeing. I asked them if they saw what I saw.

The music stopped, and an announcement was made over the speakers: there were rockets, and everyone had to evacuate to the tent area. We went back to our spot. Explosions echoed from every direction, the ground was shaking, and we were sure a rocket was going to hit us. We knew the area could become dangerous, but the number of rockets flying above us felt unreal. All we wanted was to pack up and leave. I started to panic. Ofek tried to calm me down while focusing on the most important thing: getting to the car. He told Sahar to head to the car through the fences and vehicles, pointing out the exact route with his hand. Sahar ran to the car. Around us, people were terrified, panicking, screaming, and stressed. Ofek organized our gear while I held onto a tree, feeling as if it was protecting me.

Sahar, Ofek, and I were in the car, stuck in traffic at the emergency exit to the road. Ofek did not want to wait, so he bypassed the line through the dirt and got onto Route 232. We turned right, heading south, following the security guards' directions. Waze showed a left turn north. In a split-second decision, we made a U-turn against the flow of traffic and headed north, toward home. We were driving very fast when we noticed about 20 vehicles making U-turns ahead of us. At first, we wondered if a rocket had hit there. A moment later, we realized that was not the reason. We saw live gunfire from terrorists. We made another U-turn. Gaza was to our west. The road south was blocked. To the north, terrorists were shooting. We had no idea how many there were. At that point, we still thought we were mainly running from rockets. I kept yelling that I needed to use the bathroom because I still had not gone, and I shouted at Ofek to pull over.

We reached a shelter across from Kibbutz Be'eri. The shelter was completely empty. I tried to relieve myself while the sound of gunfire echoed very close to us. We could not find a safe place to go. As we tried to figure out our next move, two unarmed Gazans approached us, shouting, "Death to Jews." The feeling was terrible, like something bad was about to happen. We ran to the car and drove away in panic. Completely helpless, with no idea how to escape, we drove up and down the road. Then we saw the entrance to Kibbutz Be'eri. For a moment, we thought we could finally breathe. We believed someone might let us in and that we would have a safe place to go.

The gate was locked. As we drove, Ofek told me to get out of the car as soon as he stopped, so the guard would see me and open the gate to the kibbutz. The car stopped, I got out, and I ran toward the booth. I lifted my head and realized the booth had been attacked. At the same time, Ofek shouted from the car for me to come back because he saw that the area beyond the gate was not safe. We understood it was a death trap.

Ofek reversed the car as fast as he could. We were back on the main road, once again with no idea what to do. Helplessness took over our bodies, and fear began to sink in. We stopped to try to figure out how to get home.

Ofek called the police. While he was on the phone, he realized our only way out might be to escape eastward through the fields. He asked the officer for guidance on how to navigate the area. The officer replied that he had dozens of calls like ours and unfortunately could not guide us out.