MORE STORIES

Revealed: German tattoo artist, 30,

killed by Hamas while attending a
music festival before the militants
paraded her body on the back of a
truck and claimed she was an Israeli
soldier - as her devastated family say
they are in a 'nightmare'
By Caroline Graham and Elizabeth Haigh and Matt
Strudwick
02:07 08 Oct 2023, updated 09:34 08 Oct 2023

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Hamas militants have been accused of

kidnapping Israeli civilians and soldiers

A woman whose lifeless and semi-naked body was

paraded in the back of a Hamas pick-up truck as
militants sat on top of her and jeered following their
violent incursion was last night identified as a
German tattoo artist.

Shani Louk, 30, was at a music festival for peace

when she was seized by terrorists as they attacked
Israel in a surprise assault which has left at least
480 people dead and 3,200 injured.

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Her body was filmed splayed in the back of a truck,

with one leg at an unnatural angle, terrorists sitting
around it and supporters of the group cheering,
running alongside and spitting on her.
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It comes as Shani's mother, Ricarda, released a

heartbreaking video begging for help to find out
what happened to her daughter.

Holding a picture of Shani on her mobile phone, she

said: 'This morning my daughter, Shani Nicole Louk,
a German citizen, was kidnapped with a group of
tourists in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas.

'We were sent a video in which I could clearly see

our daughter unconscious in the car with the
Palestinians and them driving around the Gaza
Strip.

'I ask you to send us any help or any news. Thank

you very much.'

German tattoo artist named Shani Louk, 30, was in

Israel to attend a peace rave

Shani's mother, Ricarda, holds up a picture of her

daughter on her mobile phone in an emotional video
appeal begging for help to find out what happened to
her daughter

More Videos...

Mother of German tattoo artist killed by Hamas

appeals for help

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Shocking footage shared on social media appears to

show Palestinian fighters parading Shani's naked body
on the back of a pick-up truck

Palestinian fighters can be seen cheering and driving

away as Shani's body lies motionless in the back of the
truck

Palestinian militants brandish weapons as they pass

through Israeli territory on trucks

More Videos...

We are in a state of war, says Israeli Prime Minister

Netanyahu

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Terrorists seized at least 50 Israeli hostages

and took them into Gaza where they are
being held in underground tunnels;

Gunmen drove a captured elderly woman

into Gaza on a golf cart;

A video showed a dead man in military

uniform slumped on the back of a truck.
Elsewhere, according to reports, an army
commander was taken hostage;

A desert rave in Reim, near the Gaza border,

was attacked, with dozens kidnapped and
several killed;

Israel said its forces were engaged in

gunfights with Hamas terrorists in at least
20 locations;

Last night there were reports of Hezbollah

terrorists gathering at Israel's border with
Lebanon, with Israel Defence Forces troops
firing at them. Intelligence sources said that
Hezbollah was in full readiness for war,
raising fears that the conflict could escalate
even further;

Rishi Sunak is expected to speak to Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tell
him Britain is on stand-by to offer help and
assistance at the soonest opportunity;

Security at synagogues across Britain was

'strengthened';

Hamas said hostages would be used to

negotiate the release of Palestinian
prisoners.

Israeli civilians were purportedly taken off the street

and driven back into Gaza

Footage appeared to show hostages being taken by

Hamas militants into Gaza earlier today

Areas of Tel Aviv in Israel have seen significant damage

from the air strikes, which are overwhelming Israeli
defences

A man carries a crying child as they walk past a

building destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City

Hamas had claimed the body was a female Israeli

soldier - but it was last night confirmed to be Shani
by her cousin Tomasina Weintraub-Louk, who told
MailOnline that the family recognized her distinctive
leg tattoos and dreadlocked hair.

She said: 'We have heard nothing. We are hoping

for positive news. It is definitely Shani. She was at a
music festival for peace. This is a nightmare for our
family.'

The tragedy comes as Palestinian militants

launched its worst onslaught for 50 years on
Saturday by unprecedented land, sea and air
attacks - even using hang gliders to avoid
detection.

In a coordinated, multi-pronged assault, Palestinian

terrorists crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip,
seizing settlements and capturing and murdering
civilians celebrating a Jewish holiday.

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Dozens of people are feared to have been snatched
off the street and returned to Gaza, or simply killed
on the spot.

The music festival attended by Shani was one of the

first sites to be attacked by the terrorist group, with
reports suggesting dozens were killed on sight with
more taken hostage by the militants.

In a second video widely shared on social media, a

woman screaming 'Don't kill me!' can be seen
being driven off on a motorbike by a gunman.

The Mail on Sunday has learned she is Noa

Argamani, 25, a student who was seized at the
same outdoor peace festival she had attended with
her boyfriend close to the border.

Esther Borochov, who fled the rave party, said she

survived by playing dead in a car after the driver
trying to help her escape was shot point blank.

Bodies of Israeli civilians were strewn across the

streets of Sderot in southern Israel, near Gaza,
surrounded by broken glass. The bodies of a
woman and a man were sprawled across the front
seats of a car.

'I went out, I saw loads of bodies of terrorists,

civilians, cars shot up. A sea of bodies, inside
Sderot along the road, other places, loads of
bodies,' said Shlomi from Sderot.

Terrified Israelis, barricaded into safe rooms,

recounted their plight by phone on live TV.

Other footage showed captured soldiers and

civilians – some dead – being paraded through
Gaza's streets.

Hamas had claimed the body in the truck was a female

Israeli soldier - but it was last night confirmed to be
tourist Shani by her cousin Tomasina Weintraub-Louk

Shani's family are still desperately hoping for good

news but fear the worst

Rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel on Saturday

night, October 7

Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her

outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless
boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life

Along with hundreds of other young Israelis, Noa

(pictured) and Avi had been enjoying a peace festival in
the desert when they were forced to flee for their lives

Hamas had claimed the body was a female Israeli

soldier - but it was last night confirmed to be Shani by
her cousin Tomasina Weintraub-Louk

Heralding the start of what Hamas called 'the

greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth',
Gaza's ruling group had earlier poured into Israel in
a convoy of trucks, cars and motorcycles after an
advance party bulldozed the heavily fortified border,
previously considered impregnable.
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Israel vowed revenge and responded with a series

of missile attacks that left 230 dead and 1,610
injured in Gaza. Earlier, Hamas was accused of
cold-blooded executions, with footage of apparent
victims flooding social media.

In one chilling video, a young Israeli woman,

reported as being a soldier on social media, was
seen lying in the back of an Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) armoured vehicle commandeered by the
terrorists. Then she was dragged by her hair out of
the boot. Her clothes were drenched in blood.

As she was bundled into the back seat, cheering

terrorists armed with Kalashnikov rifles shouted
'Allahu akbar'. The fate of the unidentified woman
was not known last night.

For Israelis working and living within range of Gaza,

Hamas militants roaming outside their homes
marked a terrifying turn of events.

Jehan Berman, 42, from Avshalom, located just a

few kilometres from the border, said: 'This was
always the nightmare. We told ourselves that one
day, the terrorists will come inside here.'

He added that it took eight hours for the Israeli

military to arrive to his kibbutz and start fending off
the Hamas fighters. 'We cannot live like this.'

Mr Berman said that Israeli authorities had notified

him that Hamas had kidnapped his 75-year-old
mother-in-law, along with several friends in their 30s
and their small children.

The last time he heard from his mother-in-law was

at 10.30am when she called him, panicked and
distraught, to say that Hamas militants had shot
and killed her husband.

A ball of fire and smoke rise from an explosion on a

Palestinian apartment tower following an Israeli air
strike in Gaza City

Many Palestinians were left without electricity as they

picked through rubble

A woman sobs at the site of a rocket explosion in Tel

Aviv, Israel

People flee as clashes flare between Palestinian

groups and Israeli forces in Gaza City following the
earlier air strikes

A Palestinian medic inspects the remains of an

ambulance hit by an Israeli air strike in retaliation for a
surprise incursion by Hamas on Saturday

An Israeli army spokesman says fighting is continuing

in 22 locations in southern Israel some 12 hours after
Hamas militants launched a surprise attack

A man runs in the road as fires burn in Ashkelon, Israel,

following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip initiated
by Islamic militant group Hamas

World leaders have appealed for restraint in the

conflict, which threatens to severely destabilise the
region, with US President Joe Biden warning
Israel's enemies not to take advantage of the
situation.

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Calling the attacks 'unconscionable', Mr Biden said

last night: 'Today the people of Israel came under
an attack orchestrated by a terrorist organisation,
Hamas.

'In this moment of tragedy I want to say to them,

and to the world, and to terrorists everywhere, the
United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail
to have her back.'

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: 'I am shocked

by this morning's attacks by Hamas terrorists
against Israeli citizens.

'Israel has an absolute right to defend itself. We're

in contact with Israeli authorities, and British
nationals in Israel should follow travel advice.'

He later added: 'As the barbarity of today's

atrocities becomes clearer, we stand unequivocally
with Israel.

'This attack by Hamas is cowardly and depraved.

We have expressed our full solidarity to [the Israeli
Prime Minister] and will work with international
partners in the next 24 hours to co-ordinate
support.'

Sources in the Israeli government admitted that

some of their soldiers were captured as hostages
but said their identities could not be confirmed until
their families were informed.

Grim videos showed one male Israeli soldier taken

to Gaza and paraded through the streets while
passers-by assaulted him. There were also reports
that a senior commander of the IDF was taken
hostage but the Israeli government has not
confirmed it.

Speaking on Saturday night, PM Netanyahu issued

a dire warning to Hamas militants: 'I tell Hamas, you
are responsible for the wellbeing of captives, Israel
will settle the score with anyone who harms them.'

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US President Joe Biden has warned Israel's enemies

not to take advantage of the situation

Firefighters work to put out a fire in an open field,

following a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from
the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers are pictured after fighting between the

IDF and Hamas

Children are seen clambering among wreckage in Gaza

after Israel launched rocket strikes

Ambulances transport people to hospital in Tel Aviv

after the incursion on Saturday

Dozens of rockets are fired by Palestinians towards

Israel on Saturday night

He vowed to defeat the group, but said the war

would 'take time', continuing: 'What happened
today has never been seen in Israel, we will take
mighty vengeance for this black day.'

READ MORE: Who are Hamas?

Everything you need to know
about the Palestinian terror
movement that has launched
war on Israel

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Promising 'mighty vengeance', he promised to

reduce Gaza to 'rubble', telling innocent
Palestinians to leave immediately.

Soon after, a convey of tanks were reported to be

heading towards the border with Gaza.

Speaking late on Saturday, a spokesperson for the

Israeli military said the situation in the south of the
country was 'still not fully under control'.

Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas's military

wing, said the assault was in response to the 16-
year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West
Bank cities over the past year, violence at Al-Aqsa,
the disputed Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews as
the Temple Mount, increasing attacks by settlers on
Palestinians and the growth of settlements.

'Enough is enough,' Deif, who does not appear in

public, said in the recorded message.

He claimed the attack was only the start of what he

called 'Operation Al-Aqsa Storm' and called on
Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel
to join the fight.

In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords.

Among the bombing targets was the house of
Hamas Gaza chief Yehya Al-Sinwar in Khan Younis
in the southern Gaza Strip. Mr Netanyahu warned
that 'the enemy will pay a price he has never
known'.

Israel has the most well-funded intelligence service

in the Middle East, with informants and agents
inside Palestinian terror groups, yet failed to
anticipate the attacks.

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It has a fence along the Gaza border which is meant

to prevent infiltrations - but in a further humiliation,
Hamas were pictured smashing through it using an
excavator. They were also seen celebrating on top
of Israeli tanks after their surprise attack on
unprepared forces.

The fence goes deep underground and is equipped

with cameras, sensors and sensitive listening
technology. Some experts have even suggested
Hamas and other Palestinian groups could not have
acted alone and suggested backing from powers
such as Iran.

But the US confirmed on Saturday it had no

evidence linking Iran to any of the attacks on Israel.

Mr Netanyahu meanwhile also told Israel that it is

'at war' with Hamas and has ordered a call-up of
reservists.

The Israeli Prime Minister also ordered the military

to clear the infiltrated towns of Hamas terrorists
who remained locked in gunfights with Israeli
soldiers.

People walk atop the rubble of a tower destroyed in an

Israeli air stike in Gaza City on October 7

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a

high-rise tower in Gaza City

Palestinians use an excavator to break through the

border fence separating the occupied Gaza Strip from
Israel

A rescue worker from the Magen David Adom disaster

relief service looks on as cars burn at the site of a
rocket attack in Ashkelon, southern Israel

A young girl looks at the wreckage caused by an Israeli

airstrike on Saturday

An Israeli missile launched from the Iron Dome

defence missile system attempts to intercept a rocket,
fired from the Gaza Strip, over the city of Netivot in
southern Israel
An injured Israeli soldier is brought into Tel Aviv's
Surasky Medical Centre following an attack by
Palestinian militants on Saturday

People in Gaza assess damage after a barrage of

Israeli airstrikes

A woman and child are evacuated from the site of a

rocket attack in southern Israel on Saturday

Israeli forces have mounted strikes against targets in

Gaza City following attacks today

Journalists take cover behind cars as Israeli soldiers

take position during clashes with Palestinian fighters
near the Gevim Kibbutz

Comparisons to the Yom Kippur War, one of the

most traumatic moments in Israeli history,
sharpened criticism of Mr Netanyahu and his far-
Right allies, who had campaigned on more
aggressive action against threats from Gaza.

Political commentators lambasted the Government

over its failure to foresee what appeared to be a
Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and
co-ordination.

Last night, millions of Israelis were hunkering down

in safe rooms, sheltering from rocket explosions
and ongoing gun-battles with Hamas terrorists.

In the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, just two miles from the

Gaza Strip, terrified residents huddled indoors and
said they could hear constant gunfire echoing off
buildings as firefights continued hours after the
initial attack.

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Mirjam Reijnen, a 42-year-old mother of three, who

lives in Nahal Oz, said: 'With rockets we somehow
feel safer, knowing that we have the Iron Dome and
our safe rooms. But knowing that terrorists are
walking around communities is a different kind of
fear.'

Israel has blockaded Gaza since Islamist group

Hamas gained control of the territory in 2007 and
the two have fought wars ever since.

In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches could be heard

last night and residents reported armed clashes
along the separation fence with Israel.

'We are afraid,' Amal Abu Daqqa, said as she left

her house in Khan Younis. Others expressed
disbelief at the infiltration into Israel. 'It is like a
dream. I still can't believe it,' said one Gaza
shopkeeper.

Innocent victims snatched by Hamas:

Student, 25, screams 'don't kill me!' as
she is kidnapped from a rave by
militants who also nab mother, 34, and
her two young girls in terrifying series
of raids into Israel - leaving Middle
East on brink of all-out war
A student who attended a desert rave and a mother
and her two young girls were among the innocent
victims snatched by Hamas terrorists last night.

Noa Argamani, 25, was kidnapped yesterday as a

video showed her sitting on the back of a militant's
motorcycle, with her outstretched arms pointing
towards her helpless boyfriend, pleading for her life.

She screams 'Don't kill me! No, no, no' – but the
gunman speeds off. Noa hasn't been seen since.

Her boyfriend, Avi Nathan, distraught and helpless,

is left behind in the desert. He too is missing.

Widely shared on social media, the footage of Noa's

kidnapping is almost too distressing to bear.
'Imagine what it is like for her family,' said her
university roommate, Amir Moadi. They found out
she had been snatched only when they chanced
upon the footage online.

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Last night it was also reported that Doron Asher, 34,

and her two daughters, Raz, five, and Aviv, three,
were among Israeli civilians taken hostage by
Hamas gunmen and held captive in Gaza.

A sudden invasion by the Hamas group has already

left at least 482 people dead and another 3,200
injured - in less than one day. Dozens more are said
to have been kidnapped and driven across the
border into the Gaza Strip.

Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her

outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless
boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life

Along with hundreds of other young Israelis, Noa

(pictured) and Avi had been enjoying a peace festival in
the desert when they were forced to flee for their lives

Last night it was also reported that Doron Asher, 34,

was taken hostage by Hamas gunmen and held captive
in Gaza

Doron's two daughters, Raz, five, and Aviv, three, were

also reportedly captured by Hamas gunmen

Doron's two daughters, Raz, five, and Aviv, three, were

also reportedly captured by Hamas gunmen

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a

high-rise tower in Gaza City, October 7

A woman in Tel Aviv picks her way through rubble late

on Saturday

Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child

from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in
Ashkelon

Along with hundreds of other young Israelis, Noa

and Avi had been enjoying a peace festival in the
desert when they were forced to flee for their lives
from Hamas terrorists.

Revellers had gathered for an all-night trance music

rave near Kibbutz Re'im, close to the Gaza Strip, to
celebrate the end of the Sukkot religious holiday.

But the festivities turned to chaos yesterday

morning after Palestinian terrorists began firing
rockets and gunshots into the crowd.

Footage circulated on social media showed

hundreds of people screaming and crying as they
fled the rave site on foot, pursued by the sound of
gunfire.

'I was supposed to go to the desert party but

decided at the last minute not to,' said Amir. 'We
last heard from her around 10am or 11am this
morning when she texted us all to say that terrorists
had opened fire and were chasing everyone but that
they were both safe in hiding.

'We haven't heard from them since but then,

unfortunately, we saw the disturbing videos of her
abduction online. One of her on the back of a bike
with terrorists.

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'The family is OK with us posting this because they

want her released and are hoping someone can
help.

'Her parents are in shock and can't even speak.

She's an only child.

'She is such a lovely, positive woman, always kind

and loves to travel. She just got back from Sri
Lanka. We can't believe something like this would
happen at home.'

Last night, Avi's brother Moshe said: 'My brother

just wanted to party with his girlfriend and look
what happened.'

The shocking story came as families across Israel

woke up yesterday expecting to celebrate one of
the holiest days in the Jewish calendar together.

Instead, the festival of Simchat Torah became a day

of terror and bloodshed for residents living near the
Gaza Strip.

The peace of the holy Sabbath was shattered in the

early morning as marauding Hamas gunmen
invaded the streets in places such as Sderot, a city
less than a mile from the border.

Noa's boyfriend, Avi Nathan (left), distraught and

helpless, is left behind in the desert. He too is missing

Journalists take cover behind cars as Israeli soldiers

take position during clashes with Palestinian fighters
near the Gevim Kibbutz

Israeli civilians were purportedly taken off the street

and driven back into Gaza

Footage appeared to show hostages being taken by

Hamas militants into Gaza earlier today

People try to extinguish fire on cars following a rocket

attack from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel

Dozens of rockets are fired by Palestinians towards

Israel on Saturday night

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a

high-rise tower in Gaza City

One captured woman was sat in the front seat of a golf

cart accompanied with three male Hamas members as
they made their way into the Gaza Strip

Brazen Hamas fighters knocked on the doors of

residents who expected to find Israeli soldiers
looking to reassure them about the air-raid sirens.

READ MORE: Shocking

moment missile strike on
Palestinian tower is captured
on live TV broadcast of conflict
with Israel - leaving distressed
reporter screaming

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Instead, innocent mothers with children, settlers

and even the frail elderly found themselves the 'war
booty' of the masked terrorists, who dragged them
away at gunpoint.

Their actions – which horrified the international

community – brought back grim reminders of
masked Islamic State terrorists in Syria, who
paraded hostages on social media before executing
them.

But one Hamas leader hinted to the world that

these hostages, whose number was well over 50
last night, would not be killed but be used as
human bargaining chips to have their own prisoners
in Israeli jails released.

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One terrorism expert added that the captured

Israelis could even be used as human shields to
stop the Israeli air force – which began pounding
Gaza yesterday – from blowing up certain targets.

Horrifying footage on social media showed terrified

hostages being taken to Gaza by Hamas fighters,
who chanted 'Allahu akbar' (God is great) as they
led them away.

In one chilling video, a young Israeli woman,

reported as being a soldier on social media, was
seen lying in the back of an Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) armoured vehicle commandeered by the
terrorists. Then she was dragged by her hair out of
the boot. Her clothes were drenched in blood.

As she was bundled into the back seat, cheering

terrorists armed with Kalashnikov rifles shouted
'Allahu akbar'. The fate of the unidentified woman
was not known last night.

For Israelis working and living within range of Gaza,

the sight of Hamas militants roaming outside their
homes marked a terrifying turn of events unlike
anything residents had experienced before.

'This was always the nightmare. We told ourselves

that one day, the terrorists will come inside here,'
said Jehan Berman, a 42-year-old in the small
community of Avshalom, just a few kilometers from
Gaza.

He added that it took eight hours for the Israeli

military to arrive to his kibbutz and start fending off
the Hamas fighters. 'We cannot live like this.'

Mr Berman - who suffers from multiple wounds and

disabilities inflicted by the past four wars and
countless other skirmishes between Israel and
Hamas over the years - said that Israeli authorities
had notified him that Hamas had kidnapped his 75-
year-old mother-in-law, along with several friends in
their 30s and their small children.

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The last time he heard from his mother-in-law was

at 10.30am, he said, when she called him, panicked
and distraught, to say that Hamas militants had
shot and killed her husband.

Areas of Tel Aviv in Israel have seen significant damage

from the air strikes, which are overwhelming Israeli
defences

Shocking footage shared on social media appears to

show Palestinian fighters parading the naked body of
an Israeli woman on the back of a pick-up truck

Firefighters work to put out a fire in an open field,

following a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from
the Gaza Strip

An Israeli army spokesman says fighting is

continuing in 22 locations in southern Israel some
12 hours after Hamas militants launched a surprise
attack from the Gaza Strip.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also said that Israel was

striking targets in Gaza from the air and that ground
operations were imminent.

Hagari confirmed ongoing hostage situations in the

towns of Ofakim and Beeri. Earlier, both the Israeli
military and Hamas confirmed that some Israelis
had been captured and taken hostage.

In one ten-second video posted on Telegram, at

least five Israeli women with bloodied faces can be
seen huddled in the back of a pick-up truck, being
taken away as hostages.

READ MORE: Police to step up

patrols in Britain's Jewish
communities amid fears
violence in Israel could spark
series of antisemitic attacks

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Another six-second video showed an Israeli mother

with two young boys being captured. In pro-Hamas
Twitter accounts, it was said that she was taken
under their protection but her fate and that of her
children were not known.

Sources at the Israeli embassy in London last night

said most of the hostages were taken from seven
areas bordering the Gaza Strip, including the city of
Ashkelon. It was also reported that several
hostages were taken away from a kibbutz in the
village of Be'eri, near the Gaza border.

In one case, a video showed an Israeli hostage,

completely covered up with a white sheet, being
taken away by a group of terrorists in a golf buggy.

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Two other videos emerged on X, formerly Twitter,

which showed elderly women being taken to Gaza.
In one, an Israeli woman wearing a red top was
sandwiched between two Hamas terrorists on a
motorbike.

And in grainy mobile phone footage, a female

pensioner was driven away in a buggy with three
armed terrorists on board.

Last night it was also reported that a mother and

her two daughters, aged two and four, were among
Israeli civilians taken hostage by Hamas gunmen
and held captive in Gaza.

Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian,

centre, from Kibbutz Kfar Azza into the Gaza Strip on
Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023

Palestinians are greeted by crowds after returning from

crossing the border into Israel

Sources in the Israeli government admitted that

some of their soldiers were captured as hostages
but said their identities could not be confirmed until
their families were informed.

READ MORE: Who are Hamas?

Everything you need to know
about the Palestinian terror
movement that has launched
war on Israel

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Grim videos showed one male Israeli soldier taken

to Gaza and paraded through the streets while
passers-by assaulted him. There were also reports
that a senior commander of the IDF was taken
hostage but the Israeli government has not
confirmed it.

Shoval Kahlon, a resident of Sderot, told the Israeli

public broadcaster Kan yesterday: 'We woke up at
6.30am to alarms. We thought it was the usual
rocket attacks but we started hearing gunshots on
the street.

'We then started seeing Hamas people in pick-up

trucks. They knocked on the homes of residents,
who thought they were Israeli soldiers. They took
them hostage.'

Speaking on Saturday night, PM Netanyahu issued

a dire warning to Hamas militants: 'I tell Hamas, you
are responsible for the wellbeing of captives, Israel
will settle the score with anyone who harms them.'

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He vowed to defeat the group, but said the war

would 'take time', continuing: 'What happened
today has never been seen in Israel, we will take
mighty vengeance for this black day.'

Promising 'mighty vengeance', he promised to

reduce Gaza to 'rubble', telling innocent
Palestinians to leave immediately.

Soon after, a convey of tanks were reported to be

heading towards the border with Gaza.

Speaking late on Saturday, a spokesperson for the

Israeli military said the situation in the south of the
country was 'still not fully under control'.

Smoke and flames rise after Israeli forces fired further

airstrikes towards the Gaza Strip

Rubble and damage to vehicles can be seen after a

Hamas missile hit a building in Tel Aviv, Israel

A member of Israeli police is seen in Ashkelon,

southern Israel, as a car burns

Fires break out at the Nahal Oz military site after

Palestinian resistance fighters entered

Smoke rises after Israeli warplanes targeted the

Palestine tower in Gaza City

Jonathan Conricus said Hamas militants initially

went from 'house to house' in search of Israeli
civilians, some of whom were 'executed in cold
blood' in their own homes.

At least 250 Israelis and 232 Palestinians have been

killed as a result of the attack and the spokesman
believes this number will rise.

Rocket strikes have been continuing throughout the

night from both sides, as supporters of the Hamas
group have been pictured celebrating the conflict
escalation in neighbouring countries including Iran.

Saleh al-Arouri, a top Hamas official, told the Al

Jazeera television station that his group is holding
'a large number' of Israeli prisoners, including senior
officers, adding they will be used to bargain for the
release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

There are an estimated 5,200 Palestinians in Israeli

jails, including 33 women and 170 minors.

In 2011, Israel secured the release of its soldier

Gilad Shalit by freeing more than 1,000 Palestinian
prisoners. Raffaello Pantucci, a terrorism expert at
the RUSI think-tank, said: 'Using hostages as
bargaining chips has been done by Hamas before.
It is likely they will do this again, and not execute
hostages.

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'It is possible the hostages could be used as human

shields in coming days, but their main role would be
to get Hamas prisoners released.'

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU High Representative

for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said last
night: 'News of civilians taken as hostages in their
homes or to Gaza are appalling. This is against
international law. Hostages must be released
immediately.'

Onslaught from land, sea and air: IAN

GALLAGHER reveals how Palestinian
terrorists crossed into Israel and
launched a co-ordinated, multi-
pronged assault that left the world
recoiling in horror
The world recoiled in horror yesterday as Israel
suffered its worst onslaught for 50 years – caught
off guard by unprecedented land, sea and air
attacks.

In a co-ordinated, multi-pronged assault,

Palestinian terrorists crossed into Israel from the
Gaza Strip, seizing settlements and capturing and
murdering civilians celebrating a Jewish holiday.

In a video widely shared on social media, a woman

screaming 'Don't kill me!' can be seen being driven
off on a motorbike by a gunman.

The Mail on Sunday has learned she is Noa

Argamani, 25, a student who was seized at an
outdoor peace festival she had attended with her
boyfriend close to the border.

Other footage showed captured soldiers and

civilians – some dead – being paraded through
Gaza's streets.

A young girl looks at the wreckage caused by an Israeli

airstrike on Saturday

Many Palestinians were left without electricity as they

picked through rubble

People flee as clashes flare between Palestinian

groups and Israeli forces in Gaza City following the
earlier air strikes

A man carries a crying child as they walk past a

building destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City

Heralding the start of what Hamas called 'the

greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth',
Gaza's ruling group had earlier fired more than
2,500 rockets at Israeli targets, killing more than 200
and injuring 980.

Elsewhere, some of the invaders used motorised

paragliders to attack enemy bases with machine
guns.

Many more gunmen poured into Israel in a convoy

of trucks, cars and motorcycles after an advance
party bulldozed the heavily fortified border,
previously considered impregnable. Others came
ashore by boat. The attacks instantly plunged the
region into all-out war.

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Israel vowed revenge and responded with a

devastating missile blitz that left 230 dead and
1,610 injured in Gaza. Earlier, Hamas was accused
of cold-blooded executions, with footage of
apparent victims flooding social media.

In other developments on Israel's darkest day for

decades:

Terrorists seized at least 50 Israeli hostages and

took them into Gaza where they are being held in
underground tunnels;

Gunmen drove a captured elderly woman

into Gaza on a golf cart;

A video showed the body of a half-naked

woman, said to be an Israeli soldier, being
paraded through the Gaza Strip. Another
revealed a dead man in military uniform
slumped on the back of a truck. Elsewhere,
according to reports, an army commander
was taken hostage;

A desert rave in Reim, near the Gaza border,

was attacked, with dozens kidnapped and
several killed;

Israel said its forces were engaged in

gunfights with Hamas terrorists in at least
20 locations;

Last night there were reports of Hezbollah

terrorists gathering at Israel's border with
Lebanon, with Israel Defence Forces troops
firing at them. Intelligence sources said that
Hezbollah was in full readiness for war,
raising fears that the conflict could escalate
even further;

Rishi Sunak is expected to speak to Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tell
him Britain is on stand-by to offer help and
assistance at the soonest opportunity;

Security at synagogues across Britain was

'strengthened';

Hamas said hostages would be used to

negotiate the release of Palestinian
prisoners.

A ball of fire and smoke rise from an explosion on a

Palestinian apartment tower following an Israeli air
strike in Gaza City

World leaders have appealed for restraint, with US

President Joe Biden warning Israel's enemies not to
take advantage of the situation.

Calling the attacks 'unconscionable', Mr Biden said

last night: 'Today the people of Israel came under
an attack orchestrated by a terrorist organisation,
Hamas.

'In this moment of tragedy I want to say to them,

 and to the world, and to terrorists everywhere, the
United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail
to have her back.'

Beginning at dawn yesterday, the rocket blizzard

quickly overwhelmed Israel's Iron Dome missile
defence system.

Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas's

military wing, said the assault was in response to
the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside
West Bank cities over the past year, violence at Al-
Aqsa, the disputed Jerusalem holy site sacred to
Jews as the Temple Mount, increasing attacks by
settlers on Palestinians and the growth of
settlements.

'Enough is enough,' Deif, who does not appear in

public, said in the recorded message.

He revealed that the attack was only the start of

what he called 'Operation Al-Aqsa Storm' and
called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to
northern Israel to join the fight.

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READ MORE: Who are Hamas?

Everything you need to know
about the Palestinian terror
movement that has launched
war on Israel

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In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords.

Among the bombing targets was the house of
Hamas Gaza chief Yehya Al-Sinwar in Khan Younis
in the southern Gaza Strip. Mr Netanyahu warned
that 'the enemy will pay a price he has never
known'.

Fighting raged on the 50th anniversary of the start

of the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was similarly
caught napping by its neighbours.

Yesterday was the last day of another religious

holiday, Sukkot. The invasion left many Israelis
asking the same question: How could this happen?

Israel has the most well-funded intelligence service

in the Middle East, with informants and agents
inside Palestinian terror groups, yet failed to
anticipate the attacks.

It has also built a massive fence along the Gaza

border which is meant to prevent infiltrations.

The fence goes deep underground and is equipped

with cameras, sensors and sensitive listening
technology. Some experts have even suggested
Hamas and other Palestinian groups could not have
acted alone and suggested backing from hostile
powers.

Yesterday's dramatic events come against a

background of hopeful speculation about the
possibility of Saudi Arabia and Israel reaching an
historic peace agreement, brokered by the
Americans.

It was hailed as momentous – the end of hostilities

between the Arab world and Jewish state. Then,
from nowhere, came the new conflict.

Mr Netanyahu has told Israel that it is 'at war' with

Hamas and has ordered a call-up of reservists.

The Israeli Prime Minister also ordered the military

to clear the infiltrated towns of Hamas terrorists
who remained locked in gunfights with Israeli
soldiers.

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Palestinians use an excavator to break through the

border fence separating the occupied Gaza Strip from
Israel

Ambulances transport people to hospital in Tel Aviv

after the incursion on Saturday

Palestinian militants brandish weapons as they pass

through Israeli territory on trucks

A rescue worker from the Magen David Adom disaster

relief service looks on as cars burn at the site of a
rocket attack in Ashkelon, southern Israel

An Israeli missile launched from the Iron Dome

defence missile system attempts to intercept a rocket,
fired from the Gaza Strip, over the city of Netivot in
southern Israel

Comparisons to the Yom Kippur War, one of the

most traumatic moments in Israeli history,
sharpened criticism of Mr Netanyahu and his far-
Right allies, who had campaigned on more
aggressive action against threats from Gaza.

Political commentators lambasted the Government

over its failure to foresee what appeared to be a
Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and
co-ordination.

The terror attacks come at a time of historic division

within Israel over Mr Netanyahu's proposal to
overhaul the judiciary. Mass protests over the plan
have sent hundreds of thousands of Israeli
demonstrators on to the streets and prompted
hundreds of reservists to avoid volunteer duty –
turmoil that has raised fears over the military's
battlefield readiness.

Last night, millions of Israelis were hunkering down

in safe rooms, sheltering from rocket explosions
and ongoing gun-battles with Hamas terrorists.

Cities and towns emptied as the military closed

roads near Gaza.

In the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, just two miles from the

Gaza Strip, terrified residents who were huddled
indoors said they could hear constant gunfire
echoing off buildings as firefights continued hours
after the initial attack.

Mirjam Reijnen, a 42-year-old mother of three, who

lives in Nahal Oz, said: 'With rockets we somehow
feel safer, knowing that we have the Iron Dome and
our safe rooms. But knowing that terrorists are
walking around communities is a different kind of
fear.'

Israel has blockaded Gaza since Islamist group

Hamas gained control of the territory in 2007 and
the two have fought wars ever since.

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In Gaza, the roar of rocket launches could be heard

last night and residents reported armed clashes
along the separation fence with Israel.

'We are afraid,' Amal Abu Daqqa, said as she left

her house in Khan Younis. Others expressed
disbelief at the infiltration into Israel. 'It is like a
dream. I still can't believe it,' said one Gaza
shopkeeper.

Share or comment on this article: Revealed:

German tattoo artist, 30, killed by Hamas while
attending a music festival before the militants
paraded her body on the back of a truck and
claimed she was an Israeli soldier - as her
devastated family say they are in a 'nightmare'
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