How the Hamas attack on Israel’s Supernova festival unfolded
Israel’s Supernova festival descended into chaos after Hamas gunmen stormed the desert event, killing hundreds of partygoers and kidnapping others in one of its deadliest attacks.
Dashcam footage showed a man being shot inside the site while another video appeared to show the moment a 25-year-old woman begged not to be killed as she was taken.
Using pictures and videos from social media and other witness testimony, Sky News has pieced together what we know so far about the assault and how the festival once described as a celebration of “love and infinite freedom” turned into a massacre.
More than 260 bodies have been recovered from the festival, according to Israeli rescue service Zika following the attack by the militant group Hamas.
Held just 5km (three miles) from the Israel-Gaza border in the Negev desert in southern Israel, the Supernova trance festival began on Friday evening with thousands of young people attending.
Gunfire and panic
Festivalgoers were seen dancing to bass music under colourful tents and fairy lights in one of the main areas before the camera pans to smoke rising in the distance – marked by the six grey clouds in the sky.
We know the first video, taken by one attendee, was filmed in the early hours of Saturday before sunrise which was at around 6.40am.
We know this due to the natural light and we’ve located various clips shared online using satellite imagery which marks the nova stage and main dance areas.
Witnesses reported hearing rocket fire in the distance, but some ravers didn’t hear explosions over the thumping music.
Shortly after the music was stopped, around 6.30am, announcements were made and security staff began ushering people away from the stages.
Videos showed some people leaving hurriedly, appearing confused but not yet in panic.
With the sound of gunfire, people were seen frantically running into the surrounding fields to escape. We located one video to one of the fields east of the site across the road.
North of the festival, footage showed Israeli security forces and local police setting up a perimeter and fighting positions as festivalgoers took cover.
Man killed inside festival site
The assault also involved killings as dashcam footage from a vehicle at the site showed Hamas militants taking a man away inside the festival site.
Someone was seen moving at the back of the car before a man approached him and shot him.
Two men appeared in a video wearing similar logos to Hamas fighters
The markings on this man’s headband appeared to match the Hamas logo, and the location of the site according to the dashcam coordinate was also matched by a festival tent which appeared in the background.
The timestamp on the video indicates that the footage was captured approximately three hours after the militants appeared on the scene.
Festivalgoer kidnapped
But 25-year-old Noa Argamani did not manage to escape.
A video appeared to show the woman being kidnapped and manhandled on a motorbike as she reached out towards her boyfriend being marched alongside on foot.
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Moment woman kidnapped by Hamas fighters
Several other people have also been taken hostage by Hamas, the Israel Defence Forces said.
Later, a video was released appearing to show Ms Argamani sat on her own, drinking water. We have not been able to locate where this was and when it was taken.
A reported 900 Israelis and 576 Palestinians have been killed after Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend and in retaliatory strikes.
More than 260 bodies have been recovered from the festival, according to rescuers
It marks just one of their assaults on Israel over the weekend, prompting a fierce response by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu including hundreds of airstrikes on Gaza which Hamas controls.
In response, Israel has also ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza – with no fuel, food, water or electricity allowed in.
Additional reporting by Olive Enokido-Lineham, OSINT producer.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
World
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
World
Brazil implores businesses to attend major climate summit, despite ‘second thoughts’ amid Trump backlash
The Brazilian hosts of the biggest climate meeting of the year have implored businesses to attend in November, amid concerns some are backing away from the climate agenda into the shadow of Donald Trump.
In an interview with Sky News, Ana Toni, chief executive of the COP30 climate summit in November, admitted some companies were having “second thoughts” about the global switch to green economies because policymakers were creating uncertainty.
The US President Donald Trump has been attacking wind farms and waging tariff wars that could slow the transition to green energy.
Banks including HSBC and Barclays have ditched a net zero alliance set up just four years ago by Mark Carney, now the Canadian Prime Minister.
Ana Toni, Brazil’s climate secretary, is chief executive of the COP30 climate talks. Pic: Reuters
But even before Trump took office, tech companies were quietly dropping climate targets to prioritise energy-hungry AI, and other businesses were “greenhushing” their climate initiatives for fear of backlash.
In this environment, there are fears fewer business leaders will attend the annual talks, which are also being hosted in a city on the edge of the Amazon that hasn’t enough hotel rooms.
On Friday, the COP30 team wrote to business leaders urging them to “step forward, not back” and travel to Belem, despite “logistical challenges” and the “background of systemic uncertainty”.
Ana Toni told Sky News: “We are very concerned that the enabling conditions must be there so that the private sector can also deliver where they do best, which is bringing in technology, bringing innovation and accelerating the process of decarbonisation.”
In August the share price of Danish wind farm developer plummeted after the US halted its Rhode Island wind farm, while the British Tories and Reform parties are also attacking net zero.
Ana Toni met with King Charles and leaders of other COP summits at Clarence House last year. Pic: Reuters
But Ms Toni there is “nothing to panic [about], because we can see that the transition is inevitable,” citing major progress in China, India and Europe and Brazil.
Referring to the US’s withdrawal from the COP process, she said: “198 countries minus one is not zero. And we will put all our efforts of working with the 197 countries that want to go forward and want to protect their population.”
“Climate action is not only [still] cool, it is necessary,” Ms Toni said.
“We all need to face reality. We are going through a huge climate crisis… If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Companies understand that.”
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