“I am looking for the charming man who took a selfie of us a few minutes before darkness fell upon us,” Natalee Antonov, 42, from Bat Yam, posted to the Nova music festival Facebook group.

Six weeks after Hamas’s October 7 massacre of some 1,200 Israelis, survivors are using all available means to reunite with those who saved their lives or provided them with a glimpse of hope on that catastrophic day.

“It took me over a month to write the post. I was too scared to find out that he might no longer be alive,” Antonov told the JC.

But the man, Alon Twito, had indeed survived as she soon learnt.

Shortly after taking the selfie, Twito, 44, from Eilat, was chased by two terrorists and shot at as he rushed to his car to escape the cross-border assault. One of the Palestinians ran out of breath, while the other was killed by an Israeli police officer.

Twito subsequently hid in a field for over four hours while caring for the wounded.

“I peeled a pomelo and fed it to an injured raver so that he would regain his strength,” Twito told the JC. “At one point, policemen found us and instructed us to hide behind a tank while terrorists shot at us with RPG weapons,” he added. He was evacuated to the nearby town of Ofakim, where more terrorists later attacked Israeli security forces. But he survived.

Hamas murdered some 360 mainly young revellers at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. Antonov was heading from the festival to her car just as the assault began. Unaware, she crossed paths with Bar Kadosh, 27, from Yafo, who stopped her from proceeding to the parking lot, which had become a bloodbath.

“As I’m driving, I see her walking towards the area where ravers got ambushed by terrorists,” Kadosh told the JC. “I stopped right away and told her she would get shot if she went back. Thankfully, I got through to her and she got into my car. I tried stopping others. Some didn’t listen.”

Kadosh and Antonov also picked up Hadar-Or Elmakias, who had been shot in the leg and required emergency care.

“At first, I tried to escape by car but I found myself surrounded by terrorists. I ran to hide in the bushes and heard rounds of shootings close to me,” Elmakias told the JC. “I felt pain in my leg. I was in shock.”

Shay Arbel came to her rescue, using a scarf as a tourniquet to curb the bleeding.

Antonov, Arbel and Elmakias have since reunited through the festival Facebook group.

“I hid for a while until I saw a group of ravers, I sprinted towards them and they helped me get into [Kadosh’s] car,” said Elmakias.

Antonov and Alon Twito at the festival (Photo: Issued)

They all quickly realised that medical personnel would not be able to reach them. “When they brought Hadar-Or into the car, she had a bullet in her leg. Both the army and the police weren’t answering my calls,” said Kadosh. “Hadar-Or was hurt and in pain. It became crystal clear to me that I needed to get her out of there. I drove east as fast as I could.”

They drove to a petrol station and asked a reserve officer directions to the nearest hospital.

En route, they encountered other IDF soldiers who instead advised them to go to Kibbutz Tze’elim, where there was a medical centre.

“Despite the rockets overhead and the Kalashnikov rifles shooting at us as we drove away from Re’im, I did not understand the scope of the attack until we arrived at the kibbutz,” Antonov told the JC. “At the clinic, we saw so many wounded people bleeding all over.”

On 8 October, Kadosh was called up to join his IDF unit. He has not yet been reunited with those he saved, although he is in contact with Antonov.

“I did what I needed to do. I’m a soldier, I’m trained to think logically under fire,” he said. “On October 7, my mission was to save lives. It kept me focused.”

Antonov’s sister, Victoria Chertkov, 33, from Arad, made it out of the festival alive thanks to Daniel Ohana. He helped get her car out of a pothole the night before and advised her to park elsewhere.

“Daniel told me to park further down the road,” Chertkov told the JC.

“I was planning to park right at the entrance of the festival, where many got stuck in traffic jams and were shot dead by Hamas.

“Terrorists were in the process of putting together a roadblock when I got on the road,” she continued. “I drove so fast that they moved away and I managed to pass. Everyone who tried to escape after me was stopped and murdered. Daniel saved me. Because of him, I was able to get out.”

Ohana was not so fortunate. He was killed that day.

It has taken weeks for the Israeli authorities to determine the final death toll for the festival, as the number of victims who were shot and then burned in their cars while attempting to flee was higher than previously thought.

Another 40 attendees of the all-night rave were taken to Gaza as hostages.