The death toll from a Hamas terrorist attack at an Israeli music festival has surpassed 260. Photo Credit: Stanislav Vdovin
The death toll from Hamas terrorists’ attack on an Israeli music festival has surpassed 260, according to local authorities and reports.
Outlets including CNN, citing figures provided by rescue teams, disclosed the music festival’s estimated casualties, which account for well over one-quarter of the total confirmed Israeli deaths stemming from the surprise invasion.
Approximately 3,500 individuals attended the Israel edition of Brazil-based Universo Paralello (Parallel Universe) over the weekend, per regional reports. Coinciding with the Sukkot holiday, the Re’im happening, dubbed “Supernova,” was billed by organizers as a “meaningful psy trance music festival.”
Described as an all-night festival by the Times of Israel, the event was on Saturday the 7th targeted with a violent attack that claimed close to 300 innocent lives. Additionally, an as-yet-unconfirmed number of others – foreign nationals reportedly among them – were taken hostage and transported to nearby Gaza.
Attendees captured portions of the murderous episode on video, with the casual and laidback atmosphere of Israel’s Universo Paralello being replaced in an instant by one of uncertainty and fear as festivalgoers became aware of the war crimes that were taking place.
Other circulating clips and photos appear to show the terrorists abducting from the festival at gunpoint a German citizen, Shani Louk, before parading and spitting upon her bloodied body. Meanwhile, the newest of the relevant videos, drone footage of the festival site, displays the aftermath of the assault upon thousands of unarmed civilians.
The organizers behind Universo Paralello issued multiple statements about the terrorist attack, relaying in one of the messages that they were “appalled, shocked and outraged.”
“The Universo Paralello team,” reads Google’s translation of the Portuguese-language message, “appalled, shocked and outraged by the attack on innocent lives, clarifies some information about the Festival’s link with the @tribe_of_nova Universo Paralelo Edition event, which took place in the region. The attack was not only in the region of the event, but simultaneously orchestrated across the country with more than 2,000 missiles.
“Once again, we are appalled, shocked and frightened by everything that happened and we explicitly leave our revolt and our feelings to the victims of this heinous attack,” the translated text continues.
Response from the rest of the music industry has been mostly quiet.
In the wake of the attacks and mounting death toll, most corners of the music industry have remained quiet. That includes major companies, artists, and industry figures who have been highly vocal across a range of other social issues and global situations in the past.
Among those offering statements include U2, who addressed the topic with a tweet and a song this morning.
Madonna also publicly responded in the aftermath of the attacks. “What is happening in Israel is devastating,” the singer expressed on Instagram. “Watching all of these families and especially children being herded, assaulted and murdered in the streets is heartbreaking,”
