Gili Yoskovich was among hundreds of young people at a dance music festival in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip, when gunmen opened fire in the early hours of Saturday morning as Palestinian militants launched a coordinated attack on Israel.

“They were everywhere with automatic weapons. They would stand by the cars and start shooting, but I realized it was very easy to get killed because everyone was going everywhere“, she said in an interview with the BBC.

“Terrorists were popping out from different places, so we didn’t know where to go. I got into my car and some people started shooting at me. I left the car and started running. I saw a place with many trees and went there. So I found myself in the middle of this field and lay down on the ground. It was the second hiding place I found and they were all around me. They went from tree to tree and shot. I saw people die. I was very quiet. I didn’t cry, I didn’t do anything. But on the one hand I was breathing and saying, ‘Okay, I’m going to die, because they were shooting whoever they saw in front of them.».

And he continues his shocking description: “Then I heard the terrorists open a big van… and take more weapons from that car. He was in the area for three hours. Nobody was there, nobody. I was sure the army would come, but they left us alone. Only all these terrorists were there. He was very close to me and my leg was shaking. I tried and did my best, I moved a little and when they were on this side I heard them speaking Arabic.
I was thinking about my children, my boyfriend, everything and I was saying it’s not time to die for me, not yet. Then I started to hear some Hebrew from one side and I realized that there were some soldiers, maybe five or six. I decided to go to these soldiers. Meanwhile there were still terrorists around, so I went with my hands up so they knew I was on their side. Then someone put me in a car. I was the first one off the field. Many people were dying on the road. Anyone trying to escape was shot at from both sides. So it was best to hide“, she adds.