Survivor of the Nova Festival, May Hayat, visits the scene of the October 7 attack for the first time on the one-month anniversary of the attack by Hamas on October 7th, near Re’im, Israel. (Image: Reuters)
May Hayat felt Hamas gunmen would rape her when they found her but as they argued whether to kill her, she fled.
May Hayat recounted how she narrowly escaped death in a Hamas attack one month ago when its operatives attacked the open-air Nova music festival. The music festival was being held kilometres from the Gaza security fence in the morning of October 7 – the same day Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis and took over 200 others hostage.
Hamas also killed 260 people at the music concert.
This week May returned to the venue near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel for the first time. She hoped the return would help her come in terms with the trauma she has faced.
Speaking to news agency Reuters at the venue which now has been cleared of dead bodies and debris, Hayat said she was working as a bartender at the open-air Nova music festival.
She told the news agency that she played dead by smearing a victim’s blood on her face and hid under a stage.
Hayat recalled that Hamas operatives started firing rockets into southern Israel when revellers were dancing, at around 6:30 am on October 7 but the shooting began when the group’s gunmen arrived from Gaza reached the music festival on foot and motor-bikes.
The visit brought tears to her eyes, but she managed to wipe them away, the report said.
May said that while she hid under the stage after freeing herself from the clutches of two gunmen she saw Hamas shooting at people to make sure they were all dead.
“While I’m lying under the stage, I see that they’re shooting at people to make sure they’re all dead,” Hayat said. “So the body lying next to me – they shot him in the head – I took the blood and wiped it on my face and I simply lay still…to seem dead,” she said.
She then told the news outlet that she along with another concert attendee hid in a hole but after sometime two Hamas terrorists found them.
“At that time, I was simply talking to God, saying ‘There’s nothing more I can do, it’s in your hands now.’ I felt they were going to rape me,” May was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The gunmen shot the person who was with May and then began an argument among themselves on whether to shoot her as well. She said then one of the gunmen told her to go and took pity on her.
“He simply told me to go as the other terrorist was arguing with him, telling him he wanted to murder me, and I could see how they were fighting over whether to kill me or not, and I ran away,” May said.
“If you think Hamas are an organisation acting in self-defence…, they are terrorists, they want us dead, they can’t justify any of this, they don’t care. They also killed Arab Israelis here, everyone who lives in Israel is a target to kill,” May said, while speaking to Reuters.
“They will eventually reach other countries. I hope you will wake up before it comes to you,” May said.
She said that she waited several minutes even after Israeli forces arrived at the scene to ensure that they were members of the Israeli forces, after which she cried for help.
