Camper says jackal tore tent mesh and bit her during night attack at Sea of Galilee beach

A second account has emerged from the jackal attack near the Sea of Galilee early Tuesday morning, underscoring the scale of the panic among vacationers. Anna Lundin, who was sleeping in a tent at Duga Beach, said the animal entered her closed tent, bit her leg, then continued attacking other campers for a long time before it was caught. The incident came as Israel recorded a record year for rabies, with 103 confirmed infected animals in 2025, compared with 55 in 2024 and 74 in the previous high year, 2017.

“I woke up at two in the morning because a jackal bit me in the leg,” Lundin said. “My tent was completely closed with mesh. He simply cut through the mesh, came inside and bit me while I was sleeping. I went to sleep with an eye mask and earplugs. I was in a deep sleep and suddenly felt a strong pain in my leg. I woke up and saw him. It was really frightening. He bit me for several seconds. It hurt.”

Lundin said the jackal fled after biting her, but stayed in the area and kept attacking. “He ran toward my friend who was outside, jumped on him and bit him too. I saw him running around the whole area, going into another tent and biting another woman there,” she said. She said the animal moved freely through the tent compound for a long time, causing what she described as a mass hysteria, with people screaming and turning on lights.

Lundin and her friend were evacuated by Magen David Adom to hospital for treatment and rabies vaccinations, with help from a beach worker who called an ambulance. She believes the attacking jackal moved overnight between Duga Beach and nearby Dugit Beach. As she recovers from the physical injury and the vaccination series, she said it will be a long time before she returns to the Sea of Galilee, adding, “It was terrifying. Right now I mainly need to take care of my mental state and recover from this trauma. I probably will not come back to the Sea of Galilee in the coming months.”