Woman recounts terrifying escape from Israel's Supernova festival as it came under attack from Hamas

A woman has told of the moment she locked eyes with a Hamas militant who had "murder in his eyes" before he repeatedly shot at her as she tried to escape a music festival.

Noa Beer, 29, whose family live in Prestwich, Manchester, was working at the Supernova festival as it came under attack from the group arriving on paragliders and in vans, with some dressed in military uniforms.

After noticing the attack she was able to get out of the festival and into a car, alongside the DJ she was looking after, driving away frantically before coming face-to-face with the militants as they stormed the roads.

"I saw more death than ever in my life," Noa said. "I saw him, looking me dead in the eyes and lifting the gun to shoot us the moment I started driving towards him, and then I did, no looking back."

Noa was working at the festival on 6 October which was billed as "a journey of unity and love" at the end of Israel's week-long Sukkot religious festival.

Thousands of young people attended the event which was at Kibbutz Re'im just three miles from the border with Gaza.

Noa had arrived at 2.45am on Saturday as her job was to bring one of the foreign DJs for his set.

"Up to the end of his set everything seemed so great, people were happy, partying, enjoying themselves," she said.

"After his set I went into the dance floor. I like feeling the energy of happy people around me.

"The last video on my phone was taken at 6.28am, just seconds before we noticed that there were rockets in the sky.

"The situation was surreal, we didn't hear anything as the music was loud, but suddenly we started seeing the rockets in the sky.

"The next few moments were scary, we shut down the music and yelled to the crowd that there were rockets and everyone should take cover."

Noa says she went back stage where around 20 people were hiding with no idea what was happening.

It was then they were told to leave as quickly as possible.

"We were one of the first cars out of the party," Noa said. "I thought it was lucky. Five minutes later we were five cars on the road.

"I was in the third car. I was trying to get back home as fast as I could.

"The two cars before me suddenly hit the brakes and went straight into each other. There was a motorbike on the side of the road with a man lying next to it

"I thought they had hit the bike and stopped. I was opening my door to help wounded people when I saw the first terrorist.

"He was 20 metres away, in front of me, fire like crazy, looking into my eyes.

"I yelled at the DJ to get out of the car and take cover. I thought there were soldiers firing back at him, but to my horror it was more terrorists.

"They were all around us, we had nowhere to go.

"The people who were still alive from the other cars were crawling towards us, injured and scared. We were five people hiding between the cars."

She then made a split second decision to get back into the car, in an attempt to drive to safety.

Noa added: "I yelled 'everyone get in the car, and sat in the driver's seat.

"Injured people were getting in the backseats. I was so scared, there was a terrorist ahead, shooting, with murder in his eyes.

"I don't know how my body managed to make the decision to try and drive out of there but that decision saved my own and four other people's lives.

"I drove backwards and turned and when I could. There were more terrorists waiting, cars colliding as the drivers were shot, people trying to run and being shot dead on the spot.

"It was about 10 seconds that I saw more death than ever in my life. I saw him, looking me dead in the eyes and lifting the gun to shoot us the moment I started driving towards him, and then I did, no looking back.

"I stepped on the gas and drove. He shot at us, he was maybe two metres away, and missed the window.

"I continued driving while the back of the car was still being shot at. I had two injured people in the car, one was shot in the leg and another in the hand."

She managed to call a friend who was one of the producers of the festival to warn them to not let anyone drive towards it.

"The next 30 minutes were completely focused on getting us to a safe place, not knowing how bad we were all hurt and rockets still flying overhead," she said.

When the group arrived at the hospital Noa says more and more began to arrive from the festival with most bleeding and wounded after being slot.

"People were crying that they had seen their loved ones killed, parents looking for children," Noa said.

"I made it home with only a small scratch on my leg to show for the horrors witnessed that morning, my friends haven't.

"Hundreds of people are being held by Hamas, hundreds killed, and hundreds missing. We came to celebrate our freedom and love and were left there bleeding in pain."

Noa's father, Amos Beer, said: "I had a phone call from her at about 6.30am our time on Saturday and 8.30am in Israel.

"She was in the hospital by then. She told me what had happened and I felt a mix of shock and relief that she was okay. She had been seconds from being killed.

"Noa was born in Israel but we moved to London and she went to school there. She moved back to Israel in 2014. We moved to Manchester in 2015.

"I am very proud of what she did, she was very brave. She did two and half years combat service with the Israeli military which may have helped her act the way she did under pressure.

"Every father wants his children to be safe, but she will do what she thinks is best when she has collected her thoughts, regarding staying in Israel or coming back to the UK."

The attack at the music festival was one of many after Hamas militants breached the border between Gaza and Israel on Saturday.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…