AN OCT 7th survivor who hid from Hamas under dead bodies at the Nova musical festival will now represent Israel at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Yuval Raphael, 24, hid under dead bodies for eight hours to avoid capture or death during the massacre which killed hundreds of Israelis.
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Yuval is an amateur singer who was attending the Nova music festival with her friends on the tragic day, and still has shrapnel in her head and leg.
To save her own life, she hid in a bomb shelter for hours on end underneath a pile of massacred Israelis.
She has been recounting the harrowing story of her fight for survival while competing on Israeli talent show HaKokhav HaBa (The Next Star), which she went onto win.
Winning the competing means she gets to represent Israel at this year’s Eurovision, which will take place in Switzerland this May.
After her victory on The Next Star, Yuval said: “I can’t explain how excited and ready I am!
“Thank you for giving me this huge honour and trusting me to represent my country on the grand Eurovision stage in Switzerland.”
She only began singing professionally last year, and has said that music has been “one of the strongest ingredients” in her healing process.
Since the deadly attack, which killed 364 young partygoers and saw 40 more taken as hostages, Yuval has been doing her part to pay tribute to the disaster.
Yuval has taken part in advocacy for Israel over the last year.
This has seen her speaking to the UN Human Rights Council about her experience of surviving the attack.
Whilst taking part in The Next Star final, she dedicated her rendition of ABBA‘s Dancing Queen to “all the angels” who were killed at the festival.
Her official Eurovision song will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Israel‘s official X account announced the news on Thursday to several excited reactions.
The caption read: “Yuval Raphael survived the Nova Massacre by hiding under dead bodies.
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“Last night, she won Israel’s “Rising Star” competition and will represent Israel at Eurovision 2025.
“This is Israel.”
In response, one person replied: “What a wonderful example of resilience!”
Another commented: “She is amazing!”
A third wrote: “We will dance and sing again!!!”
Nova music festival massacre
The massacre at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, is seen as the inciting incident which re-sparked conflict in the Middle East.
As part of Hamas’ attack, 364 individuals, mostly civilians, were killed during the open-air festival.
Hamas also took 40 people hostage, and men and women were reportedly subject to sexual and gender-based violence.
The attack was one of the first targets of Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel in the early morning hours.
One attendee stated that after cutting the electricity, a group of approximately 50 Hamas gunmen arrived in vans and sprayed gunfire in all directions.
During the massacre, according to survivor and emergency responder testimony, Hamas militants raped women and men.
According to survivor testimony released by Lahav 433, a young woman was gang raped by Hamas militants before being murdered.
Israel responded to Hamas’ act of violence by decarling war on Hamas launching an air and ground campaign in Gaza.
As a result, more than 47,100 Palestinians have been killed.
This makes the Nova music festival massacre the launching point of one of the most devastating conflicts in recent memory.
In the past few days, Israel and Gaza have been up holding a ceasefire after 15 months of fighting.
Last year’s winner of The Next Star, Eden Golan, represented Israel at Eurovision with Hurricane, which came fifth in the competition.
Eden’s entry was met with criticism, as it was Israel‘s first time performing at Eurovision since the outbreak the of the Middle Eastern conflict.
Her team were also forced to alter the lyrics and name of Eden’s song from October Rain to Hurricane because it was seen to break rules on political neutrality.
The singer was booed at dress rehearsal and was confined to her hotel room when not performing due to violent threats against her because of her nationality.
A 5,000-strong rally in host city Malmo forced Eden to stay in her room at the time.
Sweden’s third largest city was flooded with demonstrators waving Palestinian flags to protest Israel’s participation.
Malmo had been anticipating the wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and it was feared the young Israeli-Russian singer could find herself at risk.
Smoke canisters in the colours of the Palestinian flag being set off and protesters carrying signs displaying images of Gaza victims.
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