Feb. 27 (UPI) — Israelis and foreign visitors are flocking to a memorial at the site of last October’s Nova music festival in Re’im, where hundreds of concertgoers were killed or kidnapped by Hamas-led militants.
People gathered there Tuesday as negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release remain ongoing and possibly could conclude within the week, according comments made by President Joe Biden on Monday.
The concert site, which is in Israel’s Negev Desert near the border with the Gaza Strip, displays photographs on posts and flowers, along with the personal items of the 325 Israelis killed and those taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
“This was not only a massacre of people,” said Asher Swissa, a DJ who played music at a memorial in December. “It was a massacre of music, of freedom, of something much more bigger than us.”
According to Swissa, Israel is known for its rave events. The Nova rave party has been held every year at different venues throughout Israel and includes what is called psytrance or psychedelic trance music.
“This is the 9/11 of Israel,” said Joss Aviv, one of the event’s organizers. “Everything is compromised.”
In all, Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. Since Oct. 7 and Israel’s war in Gaza, nearly 30,000 have been killed in the Palestinian territory, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
On Monday, Biden told reporters that an Israel-Hamas cease-fire is “close,” saying he hopes to see a halt in fighting “by next Monday.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that negotiators meeting in Paris have agreed to the basics of a deal that would release the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a cease-fire.
“We would like to see this deal get done,” Sullivan said. “We would like to see the hostages returned, including American hostages.”
