A British man is missing after Hamas attacked a music festival in Israel, the country’s embassy in the UK has told Sky News.
Jake Marlowe, 26, has not been heard from since Saturday morning, the embassy said.
It said he was “missing near Gaza” after the attack on the festival in southern Israel.
Women and children among hostages, says Israel – follow live
It is understood that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is in contact with and assisting the families of several people in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Mr Marlowe’s mother told the Jewish News her son was working as part of the security team at the dance festival near Re’im – a village close to the Gaza border.
“He was doing security at this rave and called me at 4.30am to say all these rockets were flying over,” she said.
“Then, at about 5.30am, he texted to say, ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,’ and that he loves me.”
Israeli soldiers search the area around Re’im, near where the festival took place
She said her son lived in Ma’alot, in northern Israel, having moved to the country permanently two years ago.
Other people at the festival told Israeli media how the music was interrupted by air raid sirens, before Hamas militants opened fire.
“The music stopped and there was a rocket siren,” a woman told Israel’s N12 News.
“Suddenly, out of nowhere, they started shooting.”
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What next for Israel and Palestine?
Another party-goer, Esther Borochov, said a car rammed her vehicle as she tried to escape.
She said she played dead until Israeli soldiers arrived: “I couldn’t move my legs,” she told Reuters news agency.
“Soldiers came and took us away to the bushes.”
Meanwhile, German media reported that German citizen Shani Louk is among those missing.
The fate of the young woman, who is reported to have been kidnapped by Hamas militants, has not been confirmed.
The woman’s mother has appealed for any information about her daughter’s whereabouts in a video posted on social media.
The mother said she could “clearly recognise” her daughter in a video being widely circulated online.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, relatives in Germany said they hope Ms Louk is alive and will be released.
Hamas attack a ‘nightmare’
Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK, earlier told Sky News that a British citizen was in Gaza – but it’s now understood this isn’t confirmed.
“I know that Israel is doing everything to make sure all the people being kept hostage at the moment in the hands of Hamas will be released,” she added.
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‘We woke up to a nightmare’
Ms Hotovely said Israel woke to a “nightmare” after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Saturday.
She said 300 Israelis were “brutally, barbarically murdered in cold blood” by people who planned the most “calculated way” to invade.
Children were taken from their homes to Gaza, while people with dementia were “taken hostage”, she added.
Some 350 Israelis have been killed, according to Israeli media, in the deadliest attack on the country in decades, while the health ministry said at least 1,590 people had been injured.
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How Hamas attack on Israel unfolded
An Israeli military official said “hundreds” of Hamas militants had been killed and dozens captured in retaliatory attacks.
The Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday morning that at least 313 people had died, including 20 children, and that nearly were 2,000 wounded in Gaza, with seven people, including a child, killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank.
The Israeli embassy to the US said women and children were among more than 100 soldiers and civilians kidnapped by Hamas fighters and that active hostage situations were “ongoing”.