Tomer Zadik was shot by Hamas gunmen on October 7. Nursing a bandaged arm, he tells Mark Laurence Zammit how he lived through the most horrific ordeal of his life. 

When Tel Aviv-born Tomer Zadik, 24, was dancing the night away at the Supernova music festival on October 7, he had very little on his mind.

He was days ahead of starting a new university degree in accounts and business management and was enjoying the “celebration of love and peace” where people were just having fun – that is, until a siren went off at around 6.30am.

It was not Tomer’s first siren warning. He has been through a few of them, and he knows the drill – get in the car as quickly as possible and drive home fast.

Everyone else at the festival seemed to be focused on doing the same. Tomer hopped into his car with his best friend on the passenger seat.

There were only two ways out of the festival site – left towards Tel Aviv or right to drive further away from city.

He took a left but after a couple of minutes he was met with other cars that had gone down that direction but turned back in panic.

“People began telling us to turn around because they said there were terrorists that way,” he said.

“So I turned around and drove the other way as fast as I could.”

Israeli soldiers stand behind the body of a dead Hamas militant close to the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants. Photo: AFP

‘They just started shooting at us’

What Tomer did not know at that moment was that he was driving towards death because Hamas gunmen had, in fact, ambushed both ends of the road.

He recalled how after around five minutes driving the other way, they came face-to-face with three or four gunmen blocking the road, pointing guns at them.

“They just started shooting at us. I quickly turned the car around to escape but got hit three times in my right arm.

“Several bullets hit the car and hit my friend three times in both arms.”

He managed to drive away using only his left arm, as three bullets fractured his arm on impact and hit his nerves, bleeding profusely.

“It was pain... insane pain. It’s like fire starting inside of you, burning everything. It’s a horrible experience nobody should go through.”

“I still have fragments of the bullets inside my arm that they cannot remove”

Drilled by bullets, Tomer’s car broke down a few minutes later. The occupants had no choice – abandon it and run.

They managed to reach a tent that was set up as a medical centre for the music festival where they received first treatment.

“I still have fragments of the bullets inside my arm that they cannot remove.”

Soon, they had to flee the tent as the terrorists were approaching. Later, they learned a grenade was thrown inside the tent, killing everyone within its reach.

“It just became a mass grave. Luckily for me I had run away from there just in time,” Tomer said.

Israeli soldiers detain a man while on patrol in southern Israel. Photo: AFP

Running from death for five hours

What followed was five, horrific hours of intense and agonising running and hiding from the sound of explosions and the constant possibility of an imminent death.

“I began to run all over the place desperately trying to find places to protect myself. My arm was broken, so whenever I moved the slightest bit, the pain was indescribable,” he said.

“But I had no option. It was either suffering the pain or dying. And when you must run, you don’t think about it or look sideways – you just run as fast as your legs can carry you.”

He could hear the constant rattle of gunfire and explosions and, as he ran, he came across dead bodies.

“There were dead bodies of young people who had just been dancing with us at the party a while before.”

A total of 270 revellers were killed that morning.

Bodies of victims killed during the October 7 attack. Photo: AFP

‘I was determined to go home’

Throughout this time Tomer lost contact with his best friend but was texting his family and friends from his phone.

“They began telling me they love me and care about me. I was determined to survive and go home that day,” he said.

“All I was thinking about in that moment was that I wanted to go back home to those wonderful people. I must see them again, there’s no other option, I thought.”

For most of the time Tomer was alone hiding in bushes and trees and his father advised him to find a group of Israelis and stay with them.

That is what Tomer did and that is how he found himself in an evacuation car that took him to hospital and saved him.

“When I saw my family in hospital I just felt great joy.”

Roberta Metsola meeting Tomer when she visited victims of the attack. Photo: European Parliament

‘Great-grandfather also shot in holocaust’

It is not the first time that his family faced gunfire. Tomer’s grandfather was also shot and left in the woods for some six hours in the holocaust.

“It goes to show that 80 years after the holocaust, Jewish people still can’t feel safe. October 7 was the day most Jewish people have been killed since the holocaust.”

He believes what happened that day was not an attack on Israel or territories but an “attack against humanity”.

“It was not an attack to free Palestine. The Hamas doesn’t care about that. You don’t free Palestine by slaughtering babies, raping women or killing innocent people,” he said.

80 years after the holocaust, Jewish people still can’t feel safe

Tomer was recovering in hospital when, six days later, EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola visited victims of the attack.

“She was very kind and caring and I really appreciated her presence in those difficult moments,” Tomer said.

Hamas launched its first attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking hundreds more hostages. The conflict turned into a full-blown, atrocious war after Israel retaliated with air strikes, killing thousands of people, mostly civilians, including children and displacing 1.4 million people. A ground attack is expected any day.

Two weeks after the attack, Tomer feels better and has just started moving his arm again and hopes to start university in a few weeks.

His best friend is also recovering.

“It’s going to be a long process – for both of us – but it’s going to be OK.”