November 17, 2023, 6:20 PM ET
More than 360 people have now died at the October 7 music festival, Israeli media reported.
From CNN’s Andrew Carey in Tel Aviv
Jack Ghez/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli police believe at least 364 people were killed by Hamas gunmen at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7, according to Israeli media.
Authorities had previously put the death toll at 270.
Israel’s Channel 12 News said it had obtained a copy of the initial police report on the attack and announced some of the report’s findings in a major news bulletin Friday night. A copy of the report was not provided.
Seventeen of the dead were police officers, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported, citing police reports. The news agency reported that 40 festival participants were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
The music festival was the site of the highest number of deaths on October 7, but police say interviews with captured militants indicate they believe Hamas knew nothing about the festival when it began the attack. .
According to Channel 12 News, reports say the first alert was received at 6:22 a.m., but it’s clear first responders had no idea the scale of what was happening. Initial word of the attack suggested that dozens of terrorists from Gaza had crossed the border fence, but the actual number is believed to be well over a thousand.
Israeli media reported that Israeli security forces finally sealed off the festival site at 3:30 p.m., more than nine hours after the shooting spree began.
It is unclear whether the latest death toll at the festival will affect the total death toll, with officials putting the death toll at around 1,200 people.