Shani Louk, a German-Israeli national, was among festivalgoers who had gathered in farmland near the Gaza-Israel border for what was supposed to be an all-night dance party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Instead, in the early hours of Saturday morning, it was swarmed by Hamas fighters who gunned down revelers and took others hostage, as they launched an unprecedented assault on Israel.
Louk was later pictured in a video, identified by her dreadlocks and tattoos, being paraded through Gaza as onlookers shouted “Allahu Akbar.”
She is among a large number of Israeli nationals who have been taken hostage by Hamas militants and are now being held in locations across Gaza, complicating Israel’s response to the deadly attack.
Israel is taking pains to establish the exact number of hostages that have been taken into Gaza, an isolated coastal enclave of almost 2 million people crammed into 140 square miles, one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the military’s international spokesperson, told CNN on Sunday that “dozens” had been captured and emphasized just how complex the situation was as the army launched air strikes on Gaza in retaliation. In an earlier briefing he had said “civilians, children and grandmothers” were among those being held captive.
Hamas claims it has captured dozens of Israelis, including soldiers, and videos authenticated by CNN show some of the dramatic seizures.
Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has warned attacks in the area could impact hostages, with its spokesman, Abu Obaida, saying in a recorded audio message Saturday that they were “present in all axes in the Gaza Strip.”
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “it is unprecedented in our history that we have so many Israeli nationals in the hands of a terrorist organization.”
It has been more than 17 years since an Israeli soldier was taken as a prisoner of war in an assault on Israeli territory. And Israel has not seen this kind of infiltration of military bases, towns and kibbutzim since town-by-town fighting in the 1948 war of independence.
A lot more than that needs to happen. Israel's no saint here either let's not forget. I am absolutely not I repeat not justifying the actions of Hamas here. This is way past the line and they've ruined all of their credibility.
Bad people on both sides of this one.
I've been thinking a lot about this, the fact that Israel's been mistreating Palestine for decades, and... it excuses nothing. Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization that has specifically targeted civilians, and should be utterly destroyed. Palestinians shouldn't be represented by monsters willing to do what they've done.
Does hamas have any credibility to lose begin with. I lost any trust I had in them when I discovered they use children as suicide bombers and shields. These were never anything more than terrorists masquerading as the persecuted. Israels not much batter, their one step away from fascists. But no one in any position to do anything is ever objective about these two. The media that's pro Palestine very clearly understated their actions and blames them as reactions for Israels persecution of them. The pro Israeli media just recounts hamas's horror and claims retaliation is the only deterrent to more aggression. In the background more people die. I'm so tired of this messy status quo that has been ongoing since before I was even born. F*ck this whole situation.
It's shit because I stand with Palestine against Jewish aggression and I see this as a result of Israel's disgusting apartheid state policies over the last however many decades but I also can't stand with them on this.
I am staunch in my position against Israel and the people who support Israel because of the harm they do so I can't then defend this atrocity.
You know after WW2 in like 1947 (or 48?), prior to to the birth of Israel, the UN drafted a plan to divide what is now modern day Israel into two states; one for the Jewish inhabitants and one for the Palestinians, PLUS Jerusalem was to be a UN controlled international city. The Jewish community accepted the offer, the Palestinians turned it down because they wanted Jerusalem all to themselves as well as wanting all the Jews dead (them and the rest of the Arab world).
So yeah, the Palestinians could have been celebrating like the 75th anniversary of their own state by now had they not been so full of hate.
That of course is no excuse for Israeli apartheid. Both sides are assholes.
I'm sure you'd be cool with another country just giving another country half of yours.
There was no Palestinian country, and they where offered the vast majority of the israeli lands. As in the jewish would get lands that are smaller than the west bank is today.
You obviously don't know what you are talking about.
Yeah, what fucked situation for all those people
Yeah, decades of fucked up politics led to this point unfortunately.
All those conflicts and shit in the world, and climate change will just worsen it all, globally. Part of me is at a point where I just want the whole world burn, just to give another species a chance. Because it seems we just don't want to be good to one another.
I feel that, sadly.
Millennia. I think the original problem started with the Babylonian exile. The only continuous period of absolute peace was when the romans burned down the temple and salted the earth in Jerusalem.
I’m not advocating for any of this, but the problems are rooted deeper than 1947.
Let's be honest, the actual issue here is that people think that land is theirs at all ever to begin with. The whole idea is fucking ridiculous. The fact that people are willing to kill innocent people so that they can step foot on different ground is just as Preposterous as withholding land from other people because you don't want them to be on it..
Well, yes, but I meant specifically in the context of the Israeli state and its treatment of Palestinian people.
Yep, villains fighting villains.
But both sides killing mostly civilians.
The tolerable position is to try hard not to kill non-combatants, but there is an uncomfortable but important distinction between a military force seeking out to kill non-combatants, and a military force trying to kill combatants but not giving a shit what else they hit.
This is a war fuelled by hate. They're targeting civilians.
Hamas needs no further elaboration in that regard - you don't mistake a rave for a military base. On the israeli side, whoever believes 500 targets bombed in Gaza over night equals 500 carefully selected military targets is more optimistic than I am.
The Israeli army shot and killed a journalist doing her job last year. It's hard to claim she was easily confused for a legitimate military target, even for the most terrified racist in the Israeli military.
The new israeli government includes a far-right party (Otzma Yehudit) which spun out of a party that was outlawed decades ago (Kach). They are extremists, and they have been seeking to provoke something since they got in power. What they wanted was an excuse for genocide, and they are too goddamn stupid to understand that it might backfire.
Again, we all know the actions of Hamas are completely deplorable. The Israeli government being pretty damn close to a terror state doesn't justify the killing of civilians - if it did, neither side would really be in a position to complain. Hamas also has the blood of the dead children in the Gaza Strip on their hands.