CNN –
Dozens of people are believed to have been captured by Hamas militants in Israel over the weekend. They are now being held in locations across the Gaza Strip, complicating Israel’s response to the militant group’s deadly attack on Saturday.
Israel is struggling to determine the exact number of hostages brought to Gaza, an isolated coastal enclave of nearly two million people spread over 140 square miles, one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the military’s international spokesman, told CNN on Sunday that “dozens” had been captured and stressed the complexity of the situation as the army launched airstrikes on Gaza in retaliation. In an earlier briefing, he said that “civilians, children and grandmothers” were among the prisoners.
In addition to Israeli prisoners, there are also believed to be several other nationalities taken hostage. Two Mexican nationals, a woman and a man, were “presumably” taken hostage by Hamas, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said on Sunday. According to Brazilian authorities, at least three Brazilian nationals are also missing.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, has warned that Israeli attacks in the region could impact hostages. Their spokesman Abu Obaida said in a recorded audio message on Saturday that they were “present on all axes in the Gaza Strip.”
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “It is unprecedented in our history that we have so many Israeli nationals in the hands of a terrorist organization.”
It has been more than 17 years since an Israeli soldier was taken prisoner of war during an attack on Israeli territory. And Israel has not experienced such infiltration of military bases, cities and kibbutzim since the urban development battles in the War of Independence in 1948.
Here’s what we know about some of the hostages taken by Hamas.
Hundreds of attendees at the Nova music festival ran across the plains of the Negev Desert near Urim, a community near the Gaza Strip, trying to escape Hamas gunmen chasing them in vehicles in a terrifying chase. Some were killed and others seized by armed kidnappers, videos on social media showed.
From Instagram
Shani Louk in a post from her Instagram.
Details about the hostages in the attack are becoming increasingly known as family members recognize relatives in clips circulating online.
In a video that went viral, an Israeli woman and her boyfriend – identified as Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or – were shown being kidnapped. In it, Argamani was hoisted onto the back of a motorcycle and driven away, while Or was arrested and forced to walk with his hands behind his back. CNN could not independently verify the video.
“It’s very difficult when you see someone who is so close to you and who you know so much about being treated like that,” Amir Moadi, a roommate of Noa Argamani, told CNN, adding that he was from I know of five or six people who were with him at the festival and have since disappeared.
handout
Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman who was kidnapped along with her boyfriend by Hamas militants.
In another video confirmed by CNN, an unconscious woman who was at the festival was paraded by armed militants in Gaza as onlookers chanted “Allahu Akbar.”
CNN later confirmed the woman’s identity as German-Israeli citizen Shani Louk.
Her cousin confirmed to The Washington Post that Louk attended the music festival.
CNN does not currently know Louk’s whereabouts or condition. CNN is not airing the video because it is graphic and disturbing.
“We recognized her by her tattoos and she has long dreadlocks,” Louk’s cousin told the Washington Post. “We have some kind of hope… Hamas is responsible for them and the others.”
Hamas militants took hostages in the border community of Be’eri and the town of Ofakim, 20 miles east of Gaza, IDF spokesman Brigadier General said. Gen. Daniel Hagari said Saturday, adding that the two locations were the “main hotspots” of the unfolding crisis.
In a televised address, he said there were special forces with high-ranking commanders in the two communities and fighting was taking place in 22 locations.
A video geolocated by CNN for Be’eri appears to show Hamas militants capturing several Israelis.
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Residents of Be’eri and another community on Israel’s border with Gaza, Nir Oz, told national television channel Channel 12 that attackers were going door to door and trying to break into their homes.
Channel 12 also reported that intruders had taken hostages in Netiv HaAsara. Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm details of these reports.
An Israeli mother told CNN she was on the phone with her children, ages 16 and 12, who were home alone when they heard gunshots outside and people trying to break in. Then she heard the door open on the phone.
“I heard terrorists speaking to my teenagers in Arabic. And the youngest said to them, ‘I’m too young to walk,'” the mother said. “And the phone went off, the line went off. That was the last I heard from them.” CNN is not identifying the mother and her children for security reasons.
Another Israeli father told CNN he suspects his wife and young daughters were kidnapped during a visit to Nir Oz. He said he recognized his wife in a viral video showing a group of people being loaded into the back of a truck flanked by Hamas fighters as chants of “Allahu Akbar” rang out.
“I don’t even know what the situation is with the hostages, and the situation doesn’t look good,” Yoni Asher said, adding that he tracked his wife’s phone and learned it was in Gaza.
In another video geolocated by CNN in the Gaza Strip’s Shejaiya district, a barefoot woman is pulled from the trunk of a jeep by an armed man and then forced into the back seat of the car. Her face is bleeding and her wrists appear to be tied behind her back with cables. The jeep also appears to have an IDF license plate, suggesting it may have been stolen and taken to Gaza.
Al-Qassam Brigades said it captured “dozens” of Israeli soldiers on Saturday.
“We bring the good news to our (Palestinian) prisoners and our people that the al-Qassam Brigades has dozens of captured (Israeli) officers and soldiers in their hands,” the group’s spokesman Abu Obaida said in a post on Telegram . “They were secured in safe locations and resistance tunnels.”
Video geolocated and authenticated by CNN shows at least one Israeli soldier being captured.
Video posted on Hamas’ official social media accounts shows militants pulling two apparently frightened and stunned soldiers from a disabled tank. It is not clear from the video how the tank was disabled, but Hamas has previously used drones to drop bombs on Israeli tanks.
A short video clip shows one of the soldiers being kicked to the ground by the militants. In the next clip you can see the soldier lying motionless on the ground.
The second soldier is taken away by Hamas fighters. A third soldier – his face badly bloody – lies motionless on the ground near the tank track. CNN does not know the current whereabouts or status of the three soldiers.
A second video taken later shows various armed men surrounding the tank. The three soldiers are nowhere to be seen.
The gunmen are then seen pulling a fourth Israeli soldier out of the tank. The soldier is motionless as he is dragged down the side of the tank and onto the ground. The armed men can be seen trampling on his body.