Artillery fire echoed from nearby Gaza as Shye Klein-Weinstein slowly walked around a memorial honouring the nearly 400 people killed at the Nova music festival in Reim, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023.

The 28-year-old photographer and survivor of Hamas's attack recalled names and events from that fateful day -- some of which he captured on film, documenting the final moments of his fellow revellers.

Klein-Weinstein, an immigrant from Canada who had arrived in Israel just four months prior to the attack, also recalled another detail from the festival: taking ecstasy.

While still visibly shaken by the horrific experience, early findings from a study by researchers at Israel's Haifa University suggest that the MDMA Klein-Weinstein and others at the festival took that night may have been helpful in cushioning the impact of the trauma they endured.

"I came to the Nova with my cousin and several friends... It was my first music festival ever," Klein-Weinstein told AFP.

They "each took a half or a quarter pill of ecstasy", he said, going on to describe the unfolding chaos and his frantic escape.

- New findings -

The Haifa University study,........

© Al Monitor