A British woman who survived October 7 has revealed how close she came to being shot by Hamas bullets, sharing footage of her brush with death in a harrowing new documentary on the Nova festival massacre.
Noa Beer, 29, was working as a music agent at the trance music festival when rockets from Gaza began raining down on the site, sending thousands of people running for their lives.
When she realised that the barrage was intensifying, Ms Beer, who was looking after a Hungarian DJ at the event, told him they had to run immediately and that there was ‘no time for goodbyes’.
They jumped into her car and blasted the music so they wouldn’t hear the terrifying rocket fire, driving away from the festival. But they soon came up against a Hamas roadblock, and were surrounded by terrorists.
‘The only thing between me and the terrorists were my car doors,’ she told filmmaker Yariv Mozer. ‘There were a few moments where I thought I was dead. The only reason that they missed is by chance.’
Noa Beer was driving away from the Nova festival site when she and the group she was with came up against a Hamas roadblock
Noa Beer, 29, was working as a music agent at Nova festival on October 7. She spoke about her incredible escape from the festival in a new documentary
One of the passengers is seen with blood streaming down his face in the chilling footage
Noa Beer, 29, (pictured) and four others narrowly escaped the massacre at the Nova Festival on Sunday
Ms Beer, who was raised in the UK before moving to Tel Aviv, detailed the heart-stopping moment she thought she wouldn’t make it as a hail of bullets hit her car.
‘Something was protecting us, I don’t have a word for it, but I thought I was dead.
‘I was either dead, or I was very, very hurt and I wasn’t feeling it. If I’m not feeling any pain, then I’m probably dead. That was the math I did in my head.’
She said she then snapped into action. ‘I looked at my hands, and understood that I was still alive and that we need to do something, and I just yelled ‘get in the car’.’
Someone is heard yelling ‘hit the gas’ as the injured passengers desperately try to take cover behind the car’s dashboard as bullets are sprayed at them.
One is seen with blood streaming down his face, while another lies across the two front seats amid the chaos.Â
As they put the car into reverse, Ms Beer said she began to look around and understand the scale of the massacre which had unfolded around them.Â
‘I looked in the car mirror, I could see the car behind me that had stopped. The driver and the guy next to him were shot in the head. I saw them slaughter people.’
Scenes of devastation as Ms Beer escaped the festival. The music agent said she saw torched cars on the roads as she escaped
Bullet holes in Ms Beer’s car (pictured) show where a Hamas terrorist shot at her vehicle as she fled the festival
Dramatic video shows the group fleeing Hamas terrorists under a barrage of bullets
Even though the gunmen were ‘shooting like crazy’, she said, they managed to ram the car through a roadblock and escape with their lives.
The young woman drove away with four others – including two who had been shot – in her Jeep, and ‘didn’t look back’ until she reached a hospital 40 minutes away.
Pictures Ms Beer later shared showed bullet holes in the vehicle – laying bear just how close she and her friends came to being fatally wounded.
Tragically, many others, including some of Ms Beer’s own friends, were not able to escape the horror.
The party – which was meant to be a celebration of love and spirituality for around 3,500 Israelis and foreign visitors – ended with 364 people murdered, and 44 others taken hostage.
Some of their stories are told in the extraordinary new documentary, which brings together footage from hundreds of mobile phones, CCTV, and even Hamas bodycams to give an on-the-ground account of what happened, minute by minute.Â
Shocking footage from the aftermath of the attack shows festival tents empty, with abandoned cars of those trying to escape strewn on the side of the road
Traumatised survivors share their experiences of the murderous rampage in English and Hebrew, with the word ‘shechita’, meaning ‘slaughter’, repeated throughout.
The documentary is airing as many families prepare to mark the one year anniversary of the disaster, many without their loved ones who either died that day, or in Gaza after being taken captive.
Some 101 others are still being held hostage in the enclave by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, according to Israeli intelligence, with their loved ones desperately campaigning for them to be brought home.
Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again, will air on Thursday, 26 September at 9pm on BBC2. It is also available on Paramount+.
