‘I can still smell the bodies’: What happened after Hamas left the Nova festival site in Israel
Rami Shmuel went from producing a multi-day rave to searching through the bodies of partygoers who died at Nova festival.
What happened there on 7 October is now recorded as the site of the country’s worst terror attack. Israeli police say more than 360 mostly young men and women were murdered at the rave by Hamas fighters, who carried out a series of co-ordinated attacks across Israel that day.
Rami is emotional, when we speak on the phone, recalling the events of two months ago. But he is determined to provide an eyewitness account of what happened in the days that followed.
This article contains graphic descriptions of violence, death, sexual violence and torture.
This is what he said:
Rami was among those who gathered belongings dropped by festival-goers to return them to their families
Sixteen days.
The first 10 days we spent among the bodies. After that, we gave up on finding survivors.
The next six days were spent gathering belongings to give to the families – IDs, sunglasses, phones, shoes, bags.
When I close my eyes, I can still hear the screaming from that morning when the monsters came. I can still smell the bodies that were laid across the field under the bright sun.
Before, that same field was a dancefloor. I produced Unity festival, which ran earlier in that week and spilled into the Supernova festival on the Friday.
Everything was going great. Everyone was having fun, smiling, dancing. There was magic in the air.
The festival earlier in the week. Pic: Family handout/Amit Azriel
Then on Saturday, at exactly 6.28am, missiles flew over the dancers’ heads.
I had just gone home to pick up my wife. Back at the festival, the music was turned off and the evacuation began.
By 7.10am, we heard rumours of an invasion of Hamas terrorists. Then we began to hear gunshots and looked out the window – a car full of them drove past.
It was like a horror film.
An hour later, all hell had broken loose. Hamas were butchering, slaying, executing, shooting everyone.
Everyone started running in different directions, leaving their cars, running into the forest, hiding in the woods, trying to escape.
My friends and colleagues were desperately ringing me, screaming, shouting for help from the police, the military, anyone.
It is these conversations I hear in my head when I try to sleep at night.
The night before the attack, we had all sat around planning our next festival, and making sure everything was set up for Nova. Only two of us from that gathering survived.
I returned to the site in the early hours of 8 October. I wanted to look for friends, colleagues and missing people. They were my responsibility.
The human mind can’t process what I saw. The huge field was filled with bodies. They had been executed. A lot of them had a gunshot to the head or in the face. You couldn’t recognise them.
The festival site pictured in the days after the attack. Pic: AP
We found bodies for miles and miles around. People had run, but the monsters had taken them, killed them and threw their bodies away like bags of rubbish. That was Hamas’ main purpose. They came to butcher and kill.
We found my friend Matan Kido Elmalem, a DJ, but only because we recognised the ring on his finger.
Another friend of mine, Eric, had been burnt. He was at the festival with his young daughter, who was disabled and a wheelchair user. They used to dance with him holding her in his arms. I think that’s how he carried her as he ran from Hamas.
We found his body but couldn’t find hers. Eventually, an autopsy showed Ruth was with him all along. They had been so badly burnt we didn’t realise it was two bodies we had buried, not just one.
Eric, dancing with his daughter Ruth. Pic: Handout
There were bodies of people I didn’t know. There were three young girls I remember. All three had been stripped from the waist down. They were found in different parts of the festival.
One girl had almost made it to the bomb shelter. She had been shot in the face. Another had tried to escape by running behind where the festival was. They had shot her repeatedly below her waist.
A third girl – they poured gasoline on her face and set it on fire to torture her. It’s like they tried to turn her into a candle.
Their legs were open. There is not a doubt in my mind as to what happened. There is no reason for anyone to do this if not to humiliate the person, to rape them. Hamas chased them, humiliated them, ended them. The world should not let them exist. They are not animals because even animals do not act like that. They are monsters.
The people they murdered were from lots of different countries, not just Israelis. To me, this is not just our fight. I fear next time this could happen anywhere, and outside of Israel.
I lost a lot of people I knew. I was lucky to get away, and my family too.
Rami (second left) and his family before the attack. Pic: Family handout/Amit Azriel
I’ve not had therapy yet, I’m not ready. I used to cry when I got home and no one was there to see me but I don’t have any more tears. Sometimes, I wake up feeling nervous. Hamas shot at us while we were helping with the bodies. I don’t know how all those bullets missed us.
It is my birthday in a few days. I’m turning 50. Usually I have a huge party, like 3,000 people but this year I can’t face even three. I don’t know if I will ever be able to face a festival again.
I am just getting through things day by day.
As told to Sanya Burgess, digital investigations journalist.
Hamas has denied their fighters raped or sexually assaulted women during the attacks.
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.
Donald Trump disparaged the Russian military and backed Ukraine to retake all its occupied territory in an astonishing about-turn on the war.
In a post on Truth Social, made after talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations in New York, the US president said a return to “the original borders from where this war started is very much an option”.
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” he wrote.
Mr Trump said “time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO” could help Kyv win back lost territory, and said Russia was in “economic trouble”.
He said Moscow had been “fighting aimlessly” for three-and-a-half years – and had it been a “real military power” it would have defeated Ukraine in less than a week.
“This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger’,” he added.
Mr Zelenskyy told Sky News US correspondent Mark Stone it was a “big shift” from his US counterpart.
He later admitted he was surprised by Mr Trump’s comments, telling Fox News’ Special Report he has a better relationship with the president than before.
Read more: Why emboldened Trump has changed his stance on Ukraine
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations. Pic: Reuters
Trump’s patience not ‘infinite’
Mr Trump also appeared to pour cold water on his hopes of persuading Vladimir Putin to sign a peace deal.
Speaking to Emmanuel Macron at the UN summit, he said their relationship had turned out to be meaningless.
Just last month, Mr Trump rolled out the red carpet for the Russian president at a summit in Alaska – in a push to expedite the war’s conclusion.
Before returning to the White House, he repeatedly claimed he’d be able to end the conflict in 24 hours.
Speaking at the UN Security Council, his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, admitted ending the war had proven an “extraordinary challenge”.
He said Mr Trump had “worked on it tirelessly”, but warned Russia his patience is not “infinite”.
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Rigby to Trump: Was Putin’s Alaska invite a mistake?
The US president has previously suggested Ukraine will never be able to reclaim all the territory Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Ukraine has lost large areas of land in the east of the country.
In the Donetsk region, Russia now controls about 70% of the territory. Kyiv’s forces have been pushed back to four cities analysts have dubbed the “fortress belt”.
Moscow has partly annexed three other regions, too: Luhansk in the east, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson further west.
The situation in Ukraine on 19 September
Trump tells NATO to shoot down Russian jets in its skies
Meanwhile, Russia appears to be provoking its neighbours to the west. Last week, Estonia said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated its airspace for 12 minutes before Italian NATO jets escorted them away.
The week before, about 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting NATO jets to shoot some of them down and the alliance to beef up its defence of Europe’s eastern flank.
While talking to Mr Zelenskyy at the UN, Mr Trump was asked by reporters whether he thought NATO should shoot down any Russian planes that entered NATO airspace.
“Yes, I do,” Mr Trump replied.
On Truth Social, he said the US would continue to supply weapons to NATO, and it was for the alliance to “do what they want with them”.
Read more:
Trump makes full-throttle assault on UN
Has Trump ‘ended seven wars’?
Mr Trump also suggested the Russian people are not aware of “what is really going on with this war”.
He added: “Most of their money is being spent on fighting Ukraine. Putin and Russia are in big economic trouble and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
He has called on European and NATO allies to increase economic sanctions on Moscow.
In a joint statement following the president’s comments, G7 foreign ministers said discussions were ongoing about additional economic sanctions on Russia.
As U-turns go, it’s a game-changer.
Donald Trump has pivoted from pressing Ukraine to surrender territory to suggesting it’s able to win all its land back.
This is the man who threw Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the White House in February and brought Russia’s Vladimir Putin in from the cold in Alaska last month.
So, why the handbrake turn from framing negotiations as the most practical outcome to a new-found confidence in Ukraine, when supported by its European neighbours and NATO?
Trump held talks with Zelenskyy at the UN. Pic: Reuters
Firstly, it could be the military and economic reality on the ground. Russia’s paying a high price for the war, both in manpower and finances.
Trump has acknowledged that Moscow is in “big economic trouble”, which strengthens the case for Ukraine prevailing with Western help.
Ukraine’s resilience has also shifted perceptions – the impossible now looking possible if allies remain committed.
Secondly, it could be the influence of allies. European leaders flew to Washington en masse last month to urge caution in dealings with Putin.
European NATO members have stepped up aid to Ukraine, further weakening the President’s rhetoric about America carrying the financial burden.
He’s suddenly aligning himself with European countries, endorsing the shooting down of Russian planes violating their airspace.
Thirdly, it could be more about domestic politics, with the president under bipartisan scrutiny at home over his “softly, softly” approach to Russia.
A tougher national defence posture could help him consolidate support among Republicans, while also appealing to moderates, who regard the defence of Ukraine as a test of national credibility.
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Zelenskyy on Trump’s ‘big shift’ over Ukraine
Trump versus the world
There’s another factor worth considering – Trump’s negotiating tactic. He has a long record of changing position to gain leverage.
Talk of compromise might have been the strategy for getting Ukraine and Russia into talks, but with Russia showing no willingness to compromise, his calculation shifting back to the restoration of Ukraine.
Whatever the reason for his change of heart, and whether it translates into US policy, the last three days have shown an emboldened Trump.
From his declaration of “hate” for his opponents during a memorial service for Charlie Kirk, to his sensational claim to have “found an answer on autism”, to his derision of the UN, he’s unfiltered right now.
Place him in front of a microphone or online, and it’s Trump versus the world.
Acclaimed Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, who starred in The Pink Panther and Once Upon A Time In The West, has died aged 87, according to French media reports.
The actress, who starred in more than 100 films and made-for-TV productions, died in Nemours, France, surrounded by her children, her agent told the AFP news agency.
At the age of 17 she won a beauty contest in Tunisia, where she was born to Sicilian parents, and was rewarded with a trip to the Venice Film Festival, kick-starting her acting career.
She had expected to become a schoolteacher before she entered the beauty contest.
Claudia Cardinale at the Prix Lumieres awards ceremony in Paris in January 2013. Pic: AP
Cardinale gained international fame in 1963 when she starred in both Federico Fellini’s 8-1/2 and The Leopard.
She went on to star in the comedy The Pink Panther and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West in 1968.
She considered 1966’s The Professionals as the best of her Hollywood films.
Read more from Sky News:
Boris Becker on life in UK’s prisons
Trump backs Ukraine to retake territory
When she was awarded a lifetime achievement at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002, she said acting had been a great career.
“I’ve lived more than 150 lives, prostitute, saint, romantic, every kind of woman, and that is marvellous to have this opportunity to change yourself,” she said.
“I’ve worked with the most important directors. They gave me everything.”
Cardinale was named a goodwill ambassador for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for the defence of women’s rights in 2000.
She is survived by two children.
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