At 6.30am on October 7, Yussef Alziadna’s ringtone woke him with a start. Having ferried revellers to the Nova music festival until 1am, the Palestinian taxi driver had been expecting a lie-in.
Instead Amit Hadar, an Israeli whom he had dropped off with his friends hours earlier, was calling, begging for help. Hamas had attacked the festival. Could Alziadna bring his 14-seater van to rescue them?
Alziadna, 53, understood the risks. “I told myself, it doesn’t matter if I am going to die, I have to save as many lives as possible,” he said. “I’m an Israeli, they are Israelis.”
