At least 50 people ‘have killed themselves after’ surviving Nova festival attack
A survivor of the Nova Festival massacre has claimed that more than 50 people who were also there have committed suicide in the months after.
Guy Ben Shimon told a parliamentary affairs meeting that the true number could now be ‘much higher’ as survivors struggle.
The weekend-long Supernova Sukkot Gathering in a forest clearing near Kibbutz Re’im, three miles from the Gaza border, ended with hundreds dead after Hamas fighters stormed the event.
Attendees at the festival, billed as a celebration of ‘friends, love and infinite freedom’, hid under bulled-riddled vehicles as motorcycle-riding militants bottlenecked fleeing cars.
Mr Shimon said: ‘I don’t know if everyone knows, but there are close to 50 suicides among people from the Nova party.
‘And there are many more who have been forcibly hospitalised. I have lots of friends who don’t get out of bed.
‘I still cannot get out, I brought in a little dog to simply get me going around the house, she’s the one who’s making sure I can function as the moment.’
Mr Shimon recalled seeing people’s bodies open from bullet wounds, and women crying until they died.
He’s since called for treatment for the survivors, who he says are suffering from PTSD. He said: ‘We need treatment now, and not to go back to work in a month. There is no me. I’ve tried three times to go back to work, it doesn’t happen.
‘I’m having anxieties, I’m having flashbacks, I’m waking up at nights, I experience this thing again and again.’
Yuval Raphael, 24, was forced to hide under a dead body for eight hours while he waited for help to arrive after the festival massacre.
Naama Eitan, another survivor, said she hid under a tree while Hamas fighters passed by and killed those around her.
She said: ‘For now, if it wasn’t for my psychologist I wouldn’t have been here, truly, wouldn’t have been here.’
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A 2022 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and actions in those who go through mass casualty events, such as the Nova Festival Massacre, are incredibly high.
The study urged: ‘Suicidal ideation and suicide attempt in a large number of people exposed to disasters, which can ultimately endanger the lives of these people.
‘Therefore, paying attention to the mental health of people faced with disasters and taking support measures after disasters is of particular importance.’
The Israeli Ministry of Health said it does not have any information or statistics about the alleged 50 survivors who have committed suicide.
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