'They were going tree by tree and shooting' - Israeli partygoer describes festival attack

Gili Yoskovich was among hundreds of young people at a dance music festival in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip, when gunmen opened fire in the early hours of Saturday morning, as Palestinian militants launched a co-ordinated attack on Israel.

She described to the BBC how she hid under a tree in a field as gunmen roamed about shooting anybody they found.

"They were...all over the place with automatic weapons.

"They were standing next to the cars starting to shoot but I realised it was very easy to get killed...because everyone was going everywhere.

"The terrorists were coming from four or five places...so we didn't know whether to go here, so then I got into my car again and I drove a little bit more.

"Some people were shooting at me. I left the car and started to run, I saw a place with many pomelo trees and I went there.

"So I was in the middle [of this field] and I was lying on the floor. It was the second hiding place I found and they were just all around me.

"They were going tree by tree and shooting. Everywhere. From two sides. I saw people were dying all around. I was very quiet. I didn't cry, I didn't do anything.

"But I was on the one hand breathing, saying: 'OK, I'm going to die. It's OK, just breathe, just close your eyes,' because it was shooting everywhere, it was very very close to me.

"Then I heard the terrorists open a big van...and get more weapons from this car. They were in the area for three hours. No-one was there, no-one.

"I was sure the army would come, I heard some helicopters, I was sure the army would come down with helicopters and ropes and go down into this field and save us. But no-one was there. Just all these terrorists.

"They were very close to me and my leg was shaking. I tried and did my best, I moved a little bit and when they were in this side I heard them talking Arabic.

"I tried to be more under the tree so maybe when the shooting comes, they will not touch my face. "I was lying there for three hours.

"I was just thinking about my kids, my friend, about everything and I was saying it's not the time to die for me, not yet. Then I started to hear some Hebrew from one side, [but] Arabic from three sides. I realised that there were some soldiers, maybe five or six.

"I decided to go to these soldiers. Meanwhile there were still terrorists around, so I was going with my hands up so that they will know that its me and I'm not a terrorist. Then someone was putting me in a car.

"I was the first one to get out of the field. It took others two or three more hours to get out [and] all the way people were dying - all the way on the road, young people, [as] it's a festival for young people.

Many many people were dying on the road.

Whoever tried to run away they were shooting from both sides. So best was to hide. "The most crazy thing is how come we were there for such a long time and no one was there. No army, no police. Nothing."