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Noam Mazal Ben-David was forced to lie in silence among up to a dozen other victims while the terrorists continued their murdering spree.<\/p>\n
She had been shot in the foot and hip and was losing blood rapidly, but she knew that if she made the slightest sound, the ruthless gunmen would return to kill her.<\/p>\n
Noam, 27, managed to contain her pain and grief for nearly two hours \u2013 and it saved her life. Now recovering in hospital, she described her terrifying ordeal in the face of \u201cpure evil\u201d \u2013 and produced graphic pictures taken on her mobile phone.<\/p>\n
She tearfully told how what started as a gloriously happy day turned within an instant into a nightmare.<\/p>\n
Artist Noam and her boyfriend, David Neman, had been looking forward to the Supernova Festival at Re\u2019im, a secular kibbutz in the desert of southern Israel.<\/p>\n
They arrived at 6.30am on October 7 blissfully unaware of the horror that was about to unfold. Noam set up her artwork for sale and \u201cdanced with friends\u201d as she eagerly awaited for the festival to begin.<\/p>\n
As a series of loud explosions pierced the sky, Noam thought it was a fireworks display and pulled out her mobile phone, oblivious to the impending danger, and began singing with 25-year-old David.<\/p>\n
But in moments, the grim reality unfolded \u2014 the sky was being lit up by missiles launched from Gaza. Panic surged as they were told to flee.<\/p>\n
Hamas terrorists had blown through Israel\u2019s fortified separation fence and crossed into the country from Gaza, opening fire on around 3,000 Israelis who had come together for a night of music to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.<\/p>\n
Noam recalled: \u201cWe got into our car to drive away but they had blocked the exits and made it impossible for us to get out.
A security guard came running and shouted \u2018Run for your life.\u2019 They were shooting with automatic guns everywhere at everyone.\u201d Noam and David ran until they came across two large steel skips.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI told David, let\u2019s get inside the container, I can feel them getting closer. We chose to get inside the left one. Then they threw a grenade into the one on the right, so we knew everyone in
there was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
They hid inside the skip for three hours and recalled hearing the horrors taking place beyond the container. \u201cThey surrounded us and they just kept shooting, non-stop. I heard one girl scream \u2018Please don\u2019t take me. Just leave me alone\u2019. But they still kidnapped her. They did terrible, terrible things to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all calling our family and friends on our mobile phones, sharing our location and begging for help.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the terrified group lay there, one person shouted: \u201cThey saw me.\u201d Noam continued: \u201cAs the Hamas gunmen approached, David took me and threw me to the back of the container telling me to get as deep as I could and to hide. One of them jumped inside and yelled \u2018Allahu Akbar\u2019 and a bomb went off, and they started shooting non-stop.<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/strong> Deport foreign nationals if they violate Remembrance with pro-Palestine marches<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt was Russian roulette as to who would get a bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n Noam broke down in tears as she recalled how there was nothing she could do but pray. But then as the terrorists unleashed another round of gunfire she saw David shot in the chest.<\/p>\n A girl lying on top of her was blasted in the shoulder. Noam screwed up her eyes expecting to die but miraculously survived but she was hit in the foot and the hip.<\/p>\n The terrorists had presumed Noam was dead and she had to lie still and remain silent. She told of the sheer horror of watching her boyfriend and others around her ruthlessly killed.<\/p>\n As the chilling stutter of machine gunfire continued outside, she called her family to tell them David had been killed and said starkly: \u201cI\u2019m not going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n The IDF found Noam and gave her life-saving first aid. She said: \u201cI think maybe four out of the 16 who hid in the dumpster survived.<\/p>\n Noam was taken to Laniado Hospital in Netanya, a non-profit hospital founded by a Holocaust Survivor in 1975. Speaking from her bed, she said: \u201cThank God I got here because they treat me here like a princess. The most kind and beautiful people. I got the best treatment ever. People come in with carriages of food and some people come to sing and bring guitars and drums. It\u2019s really beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n Noam is being treated for her physical wounds and is receiving counselling to cope with the aftermath of her ordeal.<\/p>\n With anti-Semitism on the rise across the western world, Noam had a message to people who refuse to condemn the murderous attacks of October 7.<\/p>\n She called on them to understand that Palestinians will never be free under Hamas rule: \u201cHamas is a terrorist group that unleashes pure evil in the world. They have committed a long list of documented crimes in this attack, including the killing of civilians, children, burning people alive and abusing the bodies of civilians and soldiers. It was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. Israel has the right to defend itself after these atrocious acts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLaniado Hospital is in need of emergency medical equipment as they continue to treat the wounded and \u25cf To donate visit charityextra.com\/laniadourgentappeal<\/p>\n
victims of terror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n