What is known about the people captured by Hamas in Israel

Dozens of people are believed to have been captured in Israel by fighters from the Islamic group Hamas, classified by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group, over the weekend. They are detained in locations in Gaza, complicating Israel’s response to the group’s deadly attack last Saturday (7).

Israel is working to determine the exact number of hostages taken to Gaza. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, international spokesman for the Israeli military, told CNN on Sunday (7) that dozens of people were captured and emphasized how complex the situation was when the Army launched airstrikes against Gaza in retaliation. In an earlier statement, he said “civilians, children and the elderly” were among those held captive.

Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, warned that Israeli attacks in the area could pose a threat to hostages, with its spokesman, Abu Obaida, saying in an audio message recorded on Saturday that they were “present in all the axes of the Gaza Strip”.

In an interview with the Arabic news channel “al-Ghad TV”, Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas political office, said that the number of Israeli hostages “has not yet been counted, but there are more than 100”, and stated that there are “highly ranked Israeli Army officers” among them.

Another Palestinian armed group, Islamic Jihad, said on Sunday it was holding at least 30 hostages in Gaza. A CNN failed to verify the claims of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told the news anchor CNN Wolf Blitzer there is no precedent for so many Israeli citizens “in the hands of a terrorist organization”.

It has been more than 17 years since an Israeli soldier was taken prisoner of war in an attack on the country’s territory. Since the city-to-city fighting of the war for independence in 1948, Israel has not seen infiltration of military bases.

In 2006, militants captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, then 19, on the Israeli side of the Gaza border fence. Hamas detained Shalit for 5 years before he was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Until now, it was also known that the group held two Israeli civilians who crossed the border into Gaza and were captured, as well as the remains of two soldiers.

See what the CNN knows about some of the hostages taken by Hamas since its attack:

Rave

Hundreds of attendees at an electronic music festival ran across the Negev desert plains near Urim, a community near Gaza, to escape gunmen chasing them. More than 260 bodies were found at the site. Three Brazilians, who were at the event, are still missing.

In a video that went viral, an Israeli woman and her boyfriend – identified as Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or – were recorded during the abduction. Argamani was placed on the back of a motorcycle, while Or was detained and forced to walk with his hands behind his back. A CNN Couldn’t verify the video.

“It’s very difficult when you see someone who is so close to you being treated like this,” Amir Moadi, Noa Argamani’s roommate, told CNN adding that he knew about five or six people who were at the festival and have since disappeared.

In video verified by CNN an unconscious woman at the festival could be seen by armed militants in Gaza, as spectators shouted “Allahu Akbar”.

Later, the CNN confirmed the woman’s identity as German-Israeli citizen Shani Louk.

Ricarda Louk, Shani’s mother, told CNN who last spoke to her daughter after hearing rockets and alarms sounding in southern Israel, and called to see if she had reached safety. Shani told her mother that she was at the festival and had few places to hide.

“She was going to her car and they had soldiers standing next to the cars and shooting, so that people couldn’t reach their cars, even to drive away. And that’s when they took her,” Ricarda told CNN, adding that she hopes to see her daughter again.

“It looks really bad, but I still have hope. I hope they don’t take organs for negotiations. I hope she’s still alive somewhere. We have nothing left to hope for, so I try to believe,” she said.

See images of the massacre at the music festival

Attack on music festival in Israel; images show massacre | CNN NEW DAY

Border communities

Hamas fighters took hostages in the border community of Be’eri and the town of Ofakim, 20 miles east of Gaza, the IDF spokesman said.

In a televised speech, he said there were special forces with senior commanders in both communities and that fighting continued in 22 locations.

A video, geolocated by CNN as being from Be’eri, it appears to show Hamas militants taking several Israelis prisoner.

Residents of Be’eri and another community on Israel’s border with Gaza, Nir Oz, told the country’s “Channel 12” television station that attackers went door to door, trying to break into their homes.

The vehicle also reported that infiltrators took hostages at Netiv HaAsara. Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm any details about these reports.

An Israeli mother told CNN who was on the phone with his children, aged 16 and 12, who were home alone when they heard gunshots outside and people trying to get in. Then, over the phone, she heard the door break.

“I heard terrorists speaking Arabic to my teenage children. And the youngest telling them ‘I’m too young to go’”, said the mother. “And the phone rang, the line rang. That was the last time I heard from them.” A CNN does not identify the mother and her children for security reasons.

Another Israeli father told CNN who suspects that his wife and daughters may have been kidnapped while visiting Nir Oz. He said he recognized his wife from a viral video showing a group of people being loaded into the back of a truck flanked by Hamas militants as chants of “Allahu Akbar” resound.

“I don’t even know what the hostage situation is, but it doesn’t look good,” Yoni Asher said, adding that he tracked his wife’s phone and learned it was located in Gaza.

In another video, geolocated by CNN In the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza, a barefoot woman is pulled from the trunk of a jeep by an armed man and then forced to sit in the back seat of the car. Her face is bleeding and her wrists appear to be tied behind her back. The jeep also appears to have an IDF license plate, suggesting it may have been stolen and taken to Gaza.

See images of the conflict between Israel and Hamas