A large number of Israelis and tourists from other nations were attending a music festival themed on peace in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip, when the Hamas group launched its large-scale attack on Saturday.
Videos on social media show what is claimed to be the venue of the festival. Hundreds of people are seen running towards all directions as Hamas men fire at them.
Bodies are seen on the ground. Others show several teenagers handcuffed and blindfolded, being put on the back of trucks while the Hamas group shouted and kicked them.
A woman was seen being taken away on a motorcycle to Gaza from the venue of the music festival. Some men held her boyfriend and took him away to an empty field. Reports said execution can't be ruled out.
A 30-year-old German tattoo artist who was attending the music festival was killed by Hamas, stripped and her body was paraded on the back of a truck. Shani Louk's body was seen with one leg at an unnatural angle, indicating mutilation. Hamas men cheered, ran around the body and spat.
Israeli forces battled holdout Hamas group and pounded targets in the Gaza Strip today as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a "long and difficult" war ahead.
The Israeli army said tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed to fight terrorists in southern desert regions near the coastal enclave, to rescue Israeli hostages and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours.
"We'll reach each and every community till we kill every terrorist in Israel," said military spokesman Daniel Hagari, a day after hundreds of Hamas men crossed into Israel using vehicles, boats and even motorised paragliders.
"Our mission for the upcoming 24 hours is to evacuate all residents" from communities around the Gaza Strip, he told journalists amid the fighting that has left hundreds dead on both sides.
