Horrific scenes in October 7 ‘bunker of death’ massacre heard in audio recordings
Partygoers who fled Nova rave are heard mounting a desperate defense against terrorists’ grenades while trying to comfort each other, in phone recording made by slain Kan news editor
The horrific massacre of Supernova music festival attendees who came under attack in the roadside “bunker of death” outside of Kibbutz Re’im was captured in a three-hour phone recording, excerpts of which have been released in recent days.
Ayelet Arnin, 22, a news editor with Kan news who was murdered inside the shelter, instinctively started a recording of the experience as terrorists began their onslaught on the morning of October 7. The recording documents less than half of the seven-hour ordeal inside the shelter, ending a few hours before survivors were rescued.
In that recording and others, released in a one-hour episode of Kan’s documentary series “Zman Emet,” those who hid in the roadside shelter can be heard trying to defend themselves against the Hamas-led terrorists who had come to murder and kidnap them, while trying to comfort one another as the massacre of the festivalgoers unfolded.
In the episode, video clips initially showed the group of frightened revelers arriving at the bomb shelter, videoing the initial barrage of rockets. As more people arrived at the shelter, they began to receive more information on the dangerous developing situation.
“They began to fire at us now,” Laor Abramov, 20, who was eventually murdered in the shelter, is heard telling the group in a video, adding that he and his friends were shot at nearby.
The group is then heard coming to the realization that they are unable to flee due to the ongoing attack outside.
Speaking to Kan, Ziv Abud, who survived the massacre, recalled that Aner Shapira, who fended off the terrorists before being killed, told them that there was a “huge terrorist invasion, this is not normal.”
At 7:52 a.m., at the start of Arnin’s recording, terrorists are heard yelling in Arabic outside the shelter.
Segev Israel Kizhner, 22, Arnin’s good friend who was later murdered, is heard noting: “They saw our cars.”
“I can’t believe they’re already here, please God,” Arnin says.
“Put your phone on silent,” Kizhner urges.
Terrorists are then heard outside trying to enter the shelter. At this point, Kizhner tries to calm Arnin, who expresses fear over the sounds of Arabic outside.
“I can’t listen to this Arabic,” Arnin says. “You have to be quiet,” Kizhner responds.
Hearing explosions in the background, those inside wonder whether security forces are finally arriving (they would take much longer to do so, far too late for most of those inside the shelter).
Osama Abu Assa, 36, a Bedouin security guard at the party, is heard in the recordings leaving the shelter to speak to the terrorists.
“Raise your hands! Raise your hands!” a terrorist is heard saying.
“I am a Muslim,” Abu Assa responds, pleading with them to stop, as a terrorist continues to yell at him to raise his hands. Those in the shelter are heard crying during the confrontation.
“Come out, come out,” a terrorist is heard yelling, and commands Abu Assa to lie on the ground, guns aimed at him.
“Are there Jews inside?” a terrorist asks him.
Survivors cited by The New York Times said that Abu Assa “pleaded with the gunmen not to enter the building” and murder those hiding inside.
Abu Assa was eventually shot dead by the terrorists.
At 7:56 a.m., Kizhner is heard calling out that a terrorist had thrown a grenade into the shelter, urging someone to throw it back. Lidor Levi, 28, is then seen on dashcam footage trying to bolt out of the shelter, before being shot dead by the terrorists. At the same time, Shapira throws the grenade back out of the shelter.
Nitzan Rahoum, Levi’s fiancee who was pregnant, is heard in the recordings calling out her partner’s name. “They took Lidor,” she is heard saying. She was later killed.
“He is outside,” Itamar Shapira, a survivor of the massacre (no relation to Aner), is recorded responding.
“They’re throwing grenades at us. I don’t know what’s happening here. I can’t believe we’re sitting ducks here,” Kizhner is heard saying, while also trying to comfort Arnin.
Another grenade is thrown in, then thrown back out by Shapira, followed by an explosion and crying, as heard in the recordings. Eight grenades in total were thrown and tossed out by Aner Shapira.
At 8:01 a.m., someone is heard saying: “Don’t move, don’t move, get down.”
“Guys, step away from the wall,” a terrorist is heard telling others. A grenade is again thrown in, then hurled back outside by Shapira.
Kizhner tells Shapira, “You’re a fighter, brother,” as others encourage him to continue his brave defense.
Itamar Shapira tells him, “Throw all those grenades.” Arnin says: “What a king.”
At 8:02 a.m., Itamar Shapira asks those around him, “Are we trying to call the police?” Someone responds that they are calling, but police aren’t answering.
When another manages to reach the emergency police line, he is heard saying: “Hi, you have to come to Kibbutz Re’im. Quickly, before something serious happens. There are terrorists outside at the bus stop. We’re stuck in the shelter. They’re throwing grenades at us here. Twenty people, outside there are dozens of armed men.”
Kizhner urges those present: “Put your head down, put your head down, everyone put your heads down. You have to, now.”
At 8:05 a.m., Abud also gets into contact with the police, when suddenly, a grenade explosion is heard on the edge of the shelter.
People are heard trying to calm one another. Then Alon Ohel, speaking to the police, is heard saying, “Come as quickly as possible, please, please.”
Kizhner is heard telling Ohel to relay to police that security forces should bomb the armed men from above.
“[The policeman] told me, ‘Try to hide, bye.’ What does that even mean?” Kizhner says.
Arnin responds: “That they are doing what they’re doing, I don’t know.”
At 8:06 a.m., another grenade is thrown out, and an air force jet is heard above, with Kizhner heard expressing hope they would bomb those outside.
Aner Shapira is then heard saying, “No, no,” which is followed by the sound of an explosion, possibly the grenade that finally exploded in his hands, killing him.
“Baby, are you ok?” Itamar Shapira is heard asking his girlfriend, Agam Yosefzon. Crying is heard in the background. Ohel is heard calling police again, pleading with them to come, as another grenade is thrown in.
“No, no, no, they’re shooting at us endlessly, we’re all bleeding here,” he tells the police.
“You have to get away,” a policewoman is heard telling him. “It’s impossible, it’s impossible, we’re in the shelter. It’s impossible,” Ohel responds.
“Someone is dead,” a person is overheard saying. “What happened now?” the policewoman asks. “They’re firing at us, someone has died,” Ohel says, apparently referring to Aner Shapira.
By 8:09 a.m., Ohel is recorded continuing to beg police to rescue them, as Kizhner laments there is no one left to protect them.
“Alon, if there is another grenade, you have to throw it out. We need someone to throw the grenades out,” Kizhner says.
Another grenade is thrown in, and Tamar Samet, 20, says in a panic, “I threw it there, there, there!” She was later murdered.
Kizhner urges the group to be alert, and pay attention to the bunker entrance. Another grenade is then heard being thrown in, then thrown out of the shelter. Terrorists then fire several shots at the shelter.
At 8:10 a.m., Kizhner is heard urging that another grenade be thrown out, but it explodes inside the shelter.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, is heard saying, “I don’t have a hand,” as someone urges that a tourniquet be tied around the wound, and Kizhner continues to say the grenades must be tossed out.
As the situation worsens, those inside the shelter begin comforting each other and saying their goodbyes. Rahoum calls out to her friends Antonio Macías Montaño, 28, and Yvonne Rubio Vargas, 26, who express their love for one another. Both died.
Kizhner alerts Arnin that he is injured: “Are you with me, my love? I love you.”
“Me too, me too,” she responds.
At 8:27 a.m., the terrorists are heard taking several people hostage, as resistance to their attack dies down.
One of the terrorists says: “Yalla, yalla, pull him out, pull them!”
“There they are, there they are, those dogs,” another says.
“Pull him out, pull him, pull by the hair,” a terrorist says.
Itay Banjo is overheard saying: “Please, please.”
“Come, or I will shoot you, come,” a terrorist says.
“We have a family, please,” Banjo is heard begging. “Help me,” he adds, as terrorists urge people to come out of the bunker.
Banjo was killed by the terrorists.
“Do you work in the army?” the terrorist asks someone. Itamar Shapira is heard saying in Arabic, “Salaam, salaam,” meaning peace.
Four people were taken hostage alive from the shelter: Goldberg-Polin, Alon Ohel, Eliya Cohen, and Or Levy.
After the abductions, the terrorists are heard returning to spray bullets inside the shelter to ensure others are killed. In total, 16 were murdered, while seven managed to survive and were later rescued.
Survivors are then heard spending the next two hours comforting each other and waiting.
At 8:31 a.m., Shapira is heard urging Yosefzon to hold down her leg wound. “Hold it strong, breathe and we will live,” he says. The terrorist’s vehicle is then heard driving away.
At 9:47 a.m., gunfire is heard again outside.
He then asks Ziv Abud for water, but she can’t reach anything due to her wound. “I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry,” she says.
The group continues to wonder if the terrorists are still outside, and contemplate trying to leave.
Abud then calls the police again, telling them their location. At 10:59 a.m. Arnin’s battery runs out and the recording ends.
In total, 364 people were murdered when heavily armed Hamas-led terrorists attacked the Supernova music festival on October 7. Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in scenes of horror throughout southern Israel, and 251 were taken hostage to Gaza, sparking the ongoing war against Hamas.
