Of the more than 1,200 victims of the terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, 364 people died while participating in the Nova music festival.
A year after this massacre, LCI found Danielle, a survivor, who is trying to rebuild herself despite guilty survivor syndrome.
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Israel and Hamas at war
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a bloody attack of unprecedented scale on Israel, using infiltrated commandos. That day, taking advantage of the astonishment effect, the Palestinian Islamist movement notably targeted the Nova music festival, organized in fields and woods a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip, where nearly 3,000 revelers were gathered.
During long, endless hours, Hamas terrorists murdered 364 people who participated in this rave party, near the Kibbutz of Reim, in the western Negev desert. During this massacre, many other victims were injured or taken hostage.
Survivor syndrome is really something that bothers me
Danielle Gelbaum, Nova festival survivor
Two days before the October 7 commemorations, one of the LCI teams in Israel met one of the survivors of this festival, the place which experienced the most disastrous results. “I can’t find it. There are too many faces, there are too many people”laments Danielle Gelbaum, who lost her friend Gabriel. “It could have been my face or my sister’s.”
At only 23 years old, the young woman is haunted by the guilt of having survived thanks to her instinct. “I told myself that we couldn’t be in front or behind the crowd. We always had to be in the middle to protect ourselves. We didn’t know where they came from. We couldn’t stay exposed. Survivor syndrome : It’s really something that bothers me. You know that you voluntarily put yourself among these people… But what else can you do?”
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Today, Danielle suffers from post-traumatic stress. “Almost every time I get stuck in traffic, I automatically imagine that in a minute, a terrorist is going to get out of a car and start shooting at everyone.”she testifies to our microphone. “Where should I run? Should I go back? Go there? What should I do? And then I have to remember that… I I’m done with this.”
To try to heal, the festival-goer undergoes horse therapy. She rides Magnus 1.5 hours a week to relearn how to manage her emotions. “He taught me how to breathe correctly”she explains. “And it’s a very important thing that I apply in my everyday life. To calm myself down when I have panic attacks.” A long-term work that transformed her. “I remember her at the beginning. Much more withdrawn, more hesitant, more afraid”confides Jessica, her equine therapist. “When I see her today, she is much more fulfilled.”
