On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked the Supernova music festival in the desert near the Gaza-Israel border, killing at least 260 people and taking hostages. The festival was meant to be an all-night dance party in a rural area where thousands of young people would celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The attackers arrived in trucks, on motorcycles, and in paragliders, and many were wearing body armor and brandishing AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Video footage circulating on social media showed the gunmen descending in paragliders on the gathering, while others came by road. Festival-goers describe mass panic as they fled and hid in bushes as a trance music party came under attack. The death toll could rise as teams continue to clear the area. The attack on the music festival was part of the larger assault on Israel by Hamas fighters who blew through a fortified border fence in an unprecedented surprise attack that began on Saturday.