Hamas militants shot festival goers at point-blank range with machine guns after throwing grenades, survivor says

• A survivor of the Hamas militant attacks on an Israeli festival has spoken to Israel's Channel 12.
• He described the terror as Hamas militants opened fire on festival goers.

A survivor of the Hamas militant attack on a rave in Israel has described the terror as militants opened fire on festival goers huddled inside a bomb shelter for safety.

Sahar Ben Sela was interviewed by Israel's Channel 12 while recovering in a hospital in the aftermath of the attack.

He described the chaos that unfolded as a group of Hamas militants opened fire on festival goers near Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev desert early Saturday morning.

"They stopped the music, we were told that there were emergency sirens and after a few minutes the producers of the party screamed there are terrorists," Sahar told the outlet, recalling the first moments of the attack.

He said that he and around 10 other friends got into cars and tried to escape, and were led to a concrete bomb shelter by a policeman.

"There were about 30 of us. After a few minutes, the terrorists started shooting at us and neutralized the policeman right in front of us," he said.

"They threw a first grenade that exploded at the entrance of the shelter. After a minute of shouting, praying, and screaming from pain, they threw another grenade that hit me in the head. I stood against the wall in the second row of people and the grenade flew to the bodies behind. They were the ones getting hit, and this is what saved us."

"After half a minute, a friend tried to get out of the shelter because she was suffocating inside. Her partner and I tried to grab her, but we didn't manage to. She ran right into a terrorist and was shot from point blank range," he said.

"Then, the terrorist entered the shelter, I think with an uzi, and just started to shoot. Everyone who was in the first and second rows, except for me, was killed. A bullet hit me in the elbow and shrapnel in my leg and lungs. I think his gun got stuck because I heard a noise and he ran outside."

About a minute later, one of the survivors checked outside and said the area was clear. "I went out after him and looked for a gun on the floor but couldn't find one," Sahar said.

"I got on the radio with the police and said that we need reinforcements and that there are people killed and wounded. The policeman on the line said, 'Just run. Good luck.'"

Israeli authorities say that around 260 people were killed in the attack on the festival, with hundreds still missing. Many hundreds more were killed in simultaneous attacks on Israeli towns and military bases.

Ben Sela's is one of several harrowing eyewitness accounts that have emerged of the attack, where militants gunned down people as tried to flee across the desert on foot or in vehicles, then hunted for survivors. Social media footage shows festival goers being kidnapped by militants.

Footage of the site of the festival, which is around three miles from the border with Gaza, shows burnt out cars, shell casings, and bloodstains in the wake of the attack.