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.
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.