Hamas is currently holding a “substantial” number of people hostage, according to Israel’s military, as fears grow that those could include foreign nationals from up to 12 different countries who are missing after the militant group’s unprecedented attack.
Israel’s military said Saturday that the number taken hostage in a surprise attack launched by Hamas the same day could be more than 100.
Hamas said it would kill one Israeli hostage and broadcast it any time Israel bombs civilians in their homes in Gaza “without prior warning,” according to an audio message from the group’s spokesman, Abu Obeida, the Associated Press reported Monday. He said in a recorded audio message Saturday that hostages were “present in all axes in the Gaza Strip,” according to CNN.
Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told the AP that the group’s fighters have captured more Israelis as recently as Monday morning, and Hamas aims to free all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Among the captives are soldiers and civilians, including women, children and older adults, mostly Israelis but also other nationalities, according to the report.
Meanwhile, another Palestinian armed group, Islamic Jihad, said Sunday it is holding more than 30 hostages.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned Hamas against harming any of the hostages, saying, “This war crime will not be forgiven.”
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Hamas to ISIS, saying that the former has bound children and executed them along with their families.
“We have always known who Hamas is. Now the entire world knows. Hamas is ISIS. And we will defeat it just like the enlightened world defeated ISIS. This vile enemy wanted war and it will get war,” he said in a televised speech.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said about 1,000 Hamas militants are believed to have been involved in the incursion launched Saturday during a major Jewish holiday and 50 years after the beginning of the Yom Kippur war.
The militants were able to breach the border fence separating the Gaza Strip and Israel and poured into the country on vehicles, heading to local communities. At least 900 people have been killed so far in Israel since Saturday, including 73 soldiers, according to media reports. Gaza’s health ministry says 687 people have been killed in its territory, and 3,726 injured.
Israel has launched retaliatory strikes in Gaza, toppling buildings in the densely populated area and vowing to completely besiege the area.
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The presence of hostages in Gaza now makes Israel’s retaliation on the territory that much more complex, a former Israeli deputy security advisor told The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson on Sunday.
“I don’t think we’re in a negotiating place at this point,” said Chuck Freilich, a professor of political science at Columbia University.
“The military operation has to take place and, of course, things will be done to try and minimize the impact on the hostages. But it has to take place regardless of that consideration.”
Where the hostages are from?
So far, roughly 13 countries say that at least one of their citizens has been kidnapped, killed or is missing, including Canada, the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany.
Vivian Silver from Winnipeg is one of the Canadians believed to be abducted, according to a post on X from former federal justice minister Irwin Cotler. Cotler said Silver is a respected humanitarian and advocate for peace.
Canadian citizen Ben Mizrachi is also suspected missing, according to his former Vancouver high school. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs confirmed that he is still missing.
Global Affairs says there are 1,419 Canadians registered in Israel and 492 in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but noted the registration is voluntary and likely represents an incomplete picture of the number in the area.
Some governments have posted on social media, citing videos and reports of citizens being among those captured by Hamas. Among them is the Israeli embassy in China, which posted a video of a woman described as “a half Chinese Israeli born” named only as Noa.
CNN identified her as Noa Argamani, and said her boyfriend Avinatan Or was also taken captive during a music festival in southern Israel that Hamas militants stormed.
At least 260 bodies have been found at the festival site, according to ZAKA, an Israeli non-governmental rescue and recovery organization. Hamas militants opened fire on those trying to escape.
German tourist Shani Louk is also among the missing, the BBC reported, citing her mother.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said it has to assume Germans are among those kidnapped by Hamas, and it believes they are also Israeli citizens.
Brazil’s foreign ministry was cited in that same BBC report as saying that three dual Brazilian-Israeli nationals have gone missing who were attending the music festival, while Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ, has reported that a 22-year-old Irish-Israeli woman is missing and was last seen at the music festival.
Reuters reported that Paraguay’s government said two of its nationals are missing but didn’t give additional details.
Mexico’s foreign minister said on social media Sunday that two Mexicans “presumably” have been taken hostage, while Israel’s embassy in London, U.K., said on Sunday that a British-Israeli family is missing.
More than 10 British citizens are feared dead or missing, the BBC reported.
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, said in an interview on CBS that he understood that Americans are among the hostages taken in Israel, but said it is not known how many.
Eleven U.S. citizens have been reported killed so far, U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday. It said an undetermined number of American citizens remain missing and are unaccounted for, with it being unclear whether they had been taken hostage, were killed or are in hiding.
The State Department is in touch with families “and providing all appropriate consular assistance,” spokesman Matthew Miller said.
France’s government said on Monday it has confirmed the death of two French nationals and that work continues “to clarify the situation regarding our nationals whose whereabouts are unknown.”
Thailand’s foreign ministry says that 12 Thais have been killed, 11 kidnapped and eight injured, Reuters reported, while The Jerusalem Post cited Nepalese officials saying 17 citizens of Nepal have been taken hostage, while CNN reported one Nepal student was missing.
The BBC cited Tanzania’s embassy in Israel as saying it is trying to find two Tanzanian students who were on a business studies internship.
— with files from Global News’ Jeff Semple, the Associated Press and Reuters.