Israel’s ‘war’ with Hamas complicated by hostage situation: What we know so far

The ‘war’ is on – it’s Day 3. In fact, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (8 October) told his countrymen to prepare for a “long and difficult war”. This comes after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack a day earlier – raining down rockets and breaching Tel Aviv’s security.

But as the violence unfolds, killing thousands of people, there is another huge concern. The Hamas terrorists have abducted an untold number of Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, and brought them back to Gaza, with Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus saying that some are alive and some are presumed dead.

And reports have come in that among the “hundreds of hostages taken” – children, women, the elderly and the disabled – a few are even Americans. This was confirmed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said on Sunday to NBC, “We’re very actively trying to verify them. Any American anywhere who is being detained is going to be a priority.”

Hostages taken from homes, music festival, towns

Numerous videos on social media platforms show members of Hamas taking hostages, cramming them into trucks. One video verified by the BBC shows a truck being driven towards the Gaza Strip, carrying several hostages.

The hostages have been taken from their houses, from the streets and even a rave party, which was being held at Kibbutz Re’im, a suburb in the city of Ofakim in Israel’s south – not far from Gaza.

Videos and eyewitness accounts reveal that the attendees at the party began running when armed Hamas gunmen stormed the premises and began firing. According to the videos online, some were killed and others were seized by the armed captors.

Among the many believed to have been taken hostage is an Israeli woman and her boyfriend – identified as Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or. The video, which has not yet been verified, shows Argamani being hoisted onto the back of a motorcycle and driven away as Or is apprehended and made to walk with his hands behind his back.

Another video, verified by CNN, shows an unconscious woman being held up by armed militants. The woman was later identified as German-Israeli national Shani Louk.

The Telegraph also reported that among the hostages taken is senior Israeli military officer Major General Nimrod Aloni. He was captured during the raids in southern Israel.

Along with Aloni, other Israeli soldiers are also believed to have been taken hostage – it has been more than 17 years that an Israeli soldier has been taken as prisoner of war in an assault on Israeli territory.

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, also claimed to have taken several soldiers captive. “We bring good news to our (Palestinian) prisoners and our people that the al Qassam Brigades have dozens of captured (Israeli) officers and soldiers in their hands,” the group’s spokesman Abu Obaida said in a post on Telegram. “They have been secured in safe places and resistance tunnels.”

Apart from abducting people from the rave, reports state that Hamas fighters took people hostage from the border town of Be’eri and Ofakim. Locals of Be’eri were quoted as telling Israel’s Channel 12 that the armed attackers were going from door to door, trying to break into their homes.

A woman was quoted as telling Reuters that she had been barricaded in a bomb shelter for hours in the town. “We can hear a lot of gunfire, we were told that terrorists are in the dining hall, we can hear a lot of shooting,” she said.

She further added, “I’ve lost contact with my family. I know my father has been kidnapped… no one is telling us what’s going on. I don’t know if my mother is alive.”

Another woman told CNN that she was home with her children when she heard gunshots outside and people trying to enter. “I heard terrorists speaking in Arabic to my teenagers. And the youngest saying to them ‘I’m too young to go,’” the mother said. “That was the last time I heard from them.”

Firstpost explains:

How the Israel-Hamas conflict has been raging for years

How Hamas breached Israel’s sophisticated security, hoodwinked its intelligence

What is Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system that took on Hamas’ rain of rockets?

Israel-Palestine conflict: The big wars fought over 15 years

Foreign nationals among hostages

In addition to the Israeli captives, there are people of several other nationalities that have been taken hostage.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Sunday claimed “dozens” of US citizens are among the hostages captured by Hamas in Israel currently being held in Gaza. Reacting to reports of US nationals being taken hostage, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the administration was trying to ascertain the number of American nationals.

“We’ve got reports that several Americans are among the dead. We’re working very actively to verify those reports. At the same time, the reports of Americans being taken hostage — there too, we’re working to get the facts to find out if those reports are accurate,” Blinken told ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday.

The Guardian also reported that among those reportedly taken hostage was British citizen, Jake Marlowe. He had been attending the music festival in the south of Israel and his family have been unable to reach him since Hamas infiltrators attacked the event.

Mexico’s foreign minister Alicia Barcena also stated that two Mexican nationals, a woman and a man, have “presumably” been taken hostage by Hamas. Brazilian authorities also said that at least three of their people were missing.

Germany, too, is working with Israel to determine if their nationals have been taken or killed. The German foreign ministry said in a statement: “At this point in time, we must assume that German nationals are among those kidnapped by Hamas yesterday. We ask for your understanding that, in order to protect the people affected, we do not comment publicly on the number or individual cases.”

‘Several times greater’

Hamas’ spokesman Abu Ubaida was later quoted as saying that the number of Israelis captured was “many times greater than what Netanyahu thinks,” and that they are being held in various locations throughout the coastal strip.

Speaking on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV, he told Israel not to make “miscalculations,” adding that “whatever happens to the people of the Gaza Strip, will happen to the hostages.”

However, even as Israel has vowed justice, retired Israeli commander said it won’t be easy and the taking of hostages will complicate matters.

Israel Ziv, the former head of the Operations Directorate in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was quoted as telling CBS News that the hostages change the equation for Israel. “If it was just the attack, you may call it a military act. But what they have done with the hostages, knowing that our value for human life is different to what they see, this is something that brought us to the point of no return, even if we don’t have the answer. So we have to do what we have to do.”

Lt Col Jonathan Conricus of the IDF also said: “These are numbers that were up until now unimaginable. This will shape the future of this war.”

With inputs from agencies