EXCLUSIVE — The first thing you should know about Maya Izoutcheev is she loves God, country, and her family.
The group met up. At that same time, they started to hear rockets overhead, which Maya told the Washington Examiner didn't feel immediately"irregular," given Israel is under constant threat and uses the Iron Dome air defense system to thwart attacks.Suddenly, the thumping music stopped, and attendees began evacuating at the direction of the festival's organizers."Guys, we have a red alert," a voice warned over the loudspeakers."Red alert.
Shelters are common in Israel, where people huddle to shield themselves from rockets. But this one didn't have doors and didn't guarantee safety from on-foot terrorists. Later in the day, Maya would see gruesome footage on her phone showing what happened at the shelter. Minutes after she left, terrorists threw grenades inside and shot everyone to make sure they were dead.'Your son killed Jews!'
In Patish, civilians provided food and water to perplexed and exhausted festivalgoers. Maya and Sagi retreated to a bomb shelter and were later in the day shuttled with others in a bus to the city of Be'er Sheva.A girl who escaped the festival introduced Maya and Sagi to her father, who offered to drive them to Tel Aviv. As they rode, air ride sirens blared like surround sound. Hamas commander Mohammed Deif had urged"Muslims everywhere to launch an attack.