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11 months ago
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Bullet-riddled toilet cubicles, burnt-out cars, and WhatsApp messages sent by revellers at the Nova Festival massacre have been eerily reconstructed at an exhibition in Tel Aviv.
Some 364 people were shot, bludgeoned or burned to death at the all-night festival, held about 5km (2 miles) from the Gaza Strip as Hamas terrorists launched its sickening attack on Israel on October 7.
Horrific videos have shown young partygoers running for their lives, many of whom ran straight into fire from the waiting gunmen, while pictures showed bodies piled up in tents.
Some survivors have recounted running towards uniform-clad men, believing them to be Israeli police and soldiers coming to rescue them - before making the terrifying discovery that they were actually Hamas.
The carnage from the bloodbath has now been reconstructed at a haunting exhibition titled 06:29 - the time when Hamas launched its mass invasion - which opened tonight at the Tel Aviv expo.
Piles of shoes from the Nova Festival massacre are lined up at a haunting exhibition at the Tel Aviv expo
Toppled toilet cubicles sprayed with bullets are part of the reconstruction of the commemoration which is titled '06:29' - the time Hamas launched its mass invasion on October 7
The grounds of the Nova Festival have been recreated inside the centre - which four years ago hosted the Eurovision Song Contest - with toppled bullet-riddled toilet cubicles and burnt-out cars are among the eerie exhibits.
Hundreds of trainers and sandals worn by those who danced that night are lined up alongside open tents with discarded luggage cases nearby.
An enlarged mobile phone also stands in the hall which shows messages and voice notes sent to loved ones.
Colgate toothpaste and a toothbrush can be seen in the holder of a camp chair in another spine-chilling photo, while an installation projects the faces of all those who were murdered.
Israel President Isaac Herzog gave an emotional speech as he opened the exhibition.
He said: 'There is not a single person in Israel whose heart does not miss a beat when the clock shows exactly 06:29 in the morning.
'This hour is a fault-line in time, a gaping wound for an entire people, an abyss that separates the world that proceeded it, and the days, the burning months, into which we have fallen since.
'The fragments of the party and the torn pieces of life lie here now as a silent testimony in memory of all the tremendous human beauty that we lost. Such beautiful human beings.
'We will yet be happy, we will once again celebrate life. We will live to stand strong, without fear, in our land.
'May the memory of our heroes and loved ones, those who lost their lives at the Nova Festival and in general at the hands of our enemies, and all the heroes of Israel, be blessed and engraved upon our hearts forever.'
An installation projects the faces of the hundreds of revellers who were killed during the bloodbath
A pair of sunglasses speckled with paint. Some 364 people were shot, bludgeoned or burned to death at the all-night festival
A huge mobile phone sits in the hall which shows messages and voice notes sent by panicked partygoers
The grounds of the Nova Festival have been recreated inside the centre (Pictured: Toilet cubicles sprayed with bullets)
An open tent stands in the hall with suitcases standing nearby. Israel President Isaac Herzog gave an emotional speech as he opened the exhibition
'The powerful display presents thousands of items collected from the site' including shoe prints on an item from the Nova festival are seen during an exhibit
Lists of songs of CDs include George Michael's Careless Whisper, Our House by Madness, and the Sinead O'Connor's heart-wrenching track Nothing Compares 2 U
A book with a coloured in flower and wax crayons. President Herzog said 'The massacre and the deep and painful wound it created - are the inheritance of an entire generation'
A deckchair is toppled over in what would have been reminiscent of when partygoers sprung from their chairs and ran for the lives
A toy and a pair of flip-flops sts at the entrance of an opened tent
People walk near burnt out cars which were recovered from the site (right) while another image shows the burnt remains inside the car (left)
Mr Herzog later posted a video of the exhibition on his X page and wrote: 'The fragments of the party, the shards of life on display at the moving and powerful commemorative "06:29" exhibition that we inaugurated this evening at the Tel Aviv Expo in memory of the murdered women and men of the "Nova Festival", stand as a permanent testimony to all the immense human beauty we lost on October 7.
'The powerful display presents thousands of items collected from the site of the party that tell of the horror, the shock, the heroism and the pain.
'The massacre and the deep and painful wound it created - are the inheritance of an entire generation.
'A young generation, young people full of life whose ground was ripped out from under them.
'A generation that we must support, embrace and walk along side step by step, until it spreads its wings again.
'Boys and girls will yet again dance in our fields, we will yet be happy, we will once again celebrate music and life. We will stand strong, without fear in our land.'
English (US)