Diver believed to have been killed in shark attack filmed by helpless beachgoers on Israel coast: ‘They're biting me!'

Sky News AU

22-04-2025

Terrifying video shows a diver being attacked by a shark as horrified beachgoers watched on helplessly.
The unidentified diver is assumed dead after the attack at a beach in Israel that has been drawing tourists to see the sharks — with one video showing one swimming right up to a child standing in the water.
The attacked diver was heard screaming, 'They're biting me!' before being dragged further out to sea off the city of Hadera on Monday, according to The Times of Israel.
'They're eating him, eating the man!' one terrified witness cried, according to disturbing video circulating on social media.
'Wow, wow, he's with the shark, he's fighting him,' another said in the dramatic clip.
'I was in the water, I saw blood and there were screams,' one witness, Eliya Motai, told Ynet on Monday.
Another witness, Shlomo, said he and his friends are all now 'traumatized.'
'We were just walking down to the water when we saw someone flailing in the sea — fighting a shark and trying to get away. The shark lunged at him. It was hard to watch,' he said.
'It was chilling. We literally saw the shark attack him … It could've been me.'
Human remains were later discovered nearly 24 hours later on Tuesday after officials shut down the beach and launched a massive search in the area with divers, jetskis, and helicopters. However, officials have yet to confirm that they are the missing diver.
'At this point, I am able to say that there were several findings that were sent for [forensic] examination, and we will await the professional results,' police spokesman Aryeh Doron said.
Additional information about the victim was not immediately available. Distraught family members were seen rushing to the beach after the grim discovery was made, according to Israel's YNet News.
Shark attacks are incredibly rare in Israel, according to local experts.
The exact breed of shark was not immediately known, however, marine life experts told YNet it was likely a dusky shark or a sandbar shark, which are typically harmless to humans.
Dusky sharks can reach an impressive 13 feet long and weigh 750 pounds, whereas sandbar sharks are smaller, growing to about 8 feet and 220 pounds.
Yigael Ben-Ari, head of marine rangers at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, said this would be just the third shark attack recorded in Israel in the last 80 years.
One person was killed in an attack in the 1940s.
Endangered dusky and sandbar sharks have been lurking in the area along the Mediterranean coast for years, and this week, Israeli tourists who flocked to beaches during the holiday week.
One video shared by Israeli media before the attack showed a massive shark swimming right up to swimmers in the shallows.
'What a huge shark!' the man filming exclaims, as the shark approaches him. 'Whoa! He's coming toward us!'
'Don't move!' he implores a child standing nearby, who replies: 'I'm leaving.'
The man then asks: 'What, are you afraid of the sharks?'
With Post wires
Originally published as Diver believed to have been killed in shark attack filmed by helpless beachgoers on Israel coast: 'They're biting me!'