Rescuers Recover More Than 260 Bodies At Music Festival Attacked By Hamas
Israel's Zaka Rescue Service says its medics have pulled more than 260 bodies from a music festival attacked by Hamas militants.
The total number of bodies recovered is expected to be higher as other paramedic teams were also working in the area, and Zaka added that the bodies "have not all been collected yet".
Early Saturday morning, Hamas headed to the Nova Music Festival, a techno-festival in the desert near the Gaza border.
Videos shared on social media and Israeli media showed dozens of festival-goers running across the open grounds as gunfire engulfed them. Many of them hid in nearby gardens or were shot as they fled.
British national Jake Marlow (26), a carpenter by trade, was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival, just six kilometers east of Gaza, when Hamas launched its biggest attack on Israel on Saturday. was launched decades later. .
He is among dozens of festival-goers who have disappeared, been kidnapped or are presumed dead, several witnesses and family members told The Independent .
"Yesterday he was doing security in this mess and he called me at 4:30 in the morning to say all these rockets were flying," the 26-year-old's mother, Lisa, told Jewish News . "Then around 5:30 a.m. he texted me saying, 'Bad sign, it's okay, I'll let you know, I promise,' and that he loves me."
Parents and friends received panicked messages, The Independent saw, desperate calls for help and the deployment of the army, saying they were injured and had no way out.
Videos from the Gaza Strip surfaced online on Saturday, including one showing Hamas militants abducting a young woman, Noa Argamani, who was riding a motorcycle with her boyfriend.
On Sunday, another video showed the mutilated body of a woman, identified by friends as German tattoo artist Shani Luk, in her underwear in Gaza. Apparently, he was at the same outdoor music festival.
"We have never seen this," said the lieutenant colonel. This was stated by the international representative of the Israeli military, Jonathan Conricus.
"There is great concern for the welfare and lives of the hostages. At this point, I don't think anyone can guarantee that they will come back alive. We don't know who is alive and who is dead."
In a statement released on Sunday night, Zaka said: “We have collected over 260 bodies from the Nature Festival. Not everyone has gathered yet."
Israeli army officials told the Independent that the attack was "absolutely unprecedented" and that they feared for the lives of the hostages.
More than 700 Israelis and 400 Palestinians have been killed since the attacks began on Saturday morning. It is not known exactly how many Israelis were kidnapped, but Hamas is believed to have kidnapped more than 100 people.
