More than six months after Hamas slaughtered hundreds of people attending a music festival in southern Israel, survivors are unable to cope with what they witnessed and dozens have wound up committing suicide, according to one survivor.
Testifying at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Guy Ben Shimon revealed that the death toll from the Oct. 7 Nova music festival massacre continues to climb long after the attack ended. Three hundred and sixty four people were killed that day, and those who survived bore witness to the carnage.
“Few people know, but there have been almost 50 suicides among the Nova survivors. This number, which was true two months ago, may have increased since,” Ben Shimon said, according to i24 News.
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“There are many survivors who had to be forcibly hospitalized due to their psychological state. My friends are not getting out of bed, neither am I,” he said, adding that he is “practically unable to do anything” and relies on a dog to get through “daily life.”
The hearing, focused on shortcomings in the treatment of survivors, also heard from another survivor who described her life as a waking nightmare.
“I participated in a study that monitored my pulse and other parameters and revealed how bad my health is. I sleep on average two hours a night. Each morning at seven o’clock, I relive the moments when I was hidden in the bushes with terrorists passing by me. I can no longer move on my own, I need to be constantly accompanied,” Naama Eitan said.
