Over 100 people disappeared after the Hamas attack on Israel. They are now said to be in the Gaza Strip. But no one knows for sure. Relatives and friends are worried. What is known so far about the missing people.
“I love you,” Hersh Goldberg-Polin wrote to his mother Rachel on the morning of October 7, 2023. And shortly afterwards: “I’m sorry.” It quickly becomes clear to his mother: Hersh is in trouble. This is how Rachel Goldberg describes it to the “Los Angeles Times”. The 23-year-old has lived in Jerusalem with his parents and two younger sisters for seven years, is a SV Werder Bremen fan and traveled to the south of Israel for the Nova music festival. The images circulating after the Hamas attack came as a shock to the family. “Since then we have experienced a real nightmare,” says Rachel Goldberg. For hours, the family didn’t know where their son was, whether he was still alive or had been kidnapped by Hamas.
They are not the only ones who fear for a loved one: In its major attack on Israel five days ago, the terrorist group Hamas killed up to 250 people and kidnapped over 100 to the Gaza Strip. There are numerous calls for help from relatives circulating online – from Germany too – who are missing relatives. The Israeli army estimates that around 150 people are in the hands of Hamas.
Many missing people with dual citizenship
In Germany the authorities are trying to provide clarity. The federal government’s crisis team has been meeting since Saturday. The Foreign Office breaks down how many people from Germany are missing or have been abducted star-Do not include the request. “We ask for your understanding that, in order to protect the people affected, we do not comment publicly on the number or individual cases,” it says in the written answer.
According to media reports, five people with German citizenship are missing. Among them is 22-year-old Shani Louk. She is said to have been kidnapped to Gaza after the Hamas attack. This is shown by a video in which the young woman appears to be seen half-naked on a pickup truck between several Hamas men in the Gaza Strip. As reported by the Tagesschau, among others, citing Shani Louk’s mother, the young woman is in the hospital with serious head injuries. “We now have more information that Shani is alive,” Ricarda Louk said in a video message. Her mother emigrated to Israel and converted to Judaism. Her daughter’s father is Israeli. According to information from “Spiegel”, Shani Louk has never lived in Germany, but has German citizenship.
A cell phone photo of 22-year-old Shani Louk
© David Pichler / TNN / DPA
According to a report in “Welt”, a young German tourist is said to have died during her visit to Kibuz Nir Os near the of the Gaza Strip were killed. The student from Berlin was on vacation there with her British boyfriend. Her mother received news that their bodies had been found. An official confirmation is still pending.
Frances President Emmanuel Macron spoke of “unbearable blackmail” with regard to the kidnappings by Hamas. According to a French Foreign Ministry report, four French people were killed in the Hamas attack. 13 other French citizens are missing. However, it is still unclear what happened to them. Authorities believe some of them were “very likely kidnapped” – including a 12-year-old boy.
In Austria Three men with Austrian-Israeli citizenship are missing: Tal Shoham, his wife and three children between the ages of three and eight were, according to media reports, probably kidnapped by Hamas on Saturday. Shaked Haran is also missing eleven family members. She told the daily newspaper “Die Presse” how she tried to reach her family members by phone. Finally, a strange voice spoke up and explained in broken Hebrew that the relatives had been deported to the Gaza Strip. All people have Israeli, Austrian, German or Italian citizenship. Both families lived in Israel but were not present at the music festival. The Austrian Foreign Ministry announced that one of the three missing people was killed in the major Hamas attack and his body has now been found.
According to the USAuthorities said 14 US citizens were killed in the Hamas attack and at least 20 others are missing. President Joe Biden made saving people his top priority. “For me, there is no higher priority than the safety of Americans held hostage around the world,” he said during a speech at the White House on Tuesday. Like authorities in other countries, Washington has not released the identities of the missing people. However, US media were able to track down some relatives of missing people based on calls for help online. At a news conference in Tel Aviv, Naher Neta tearfully recounted how he reassured his 66-year-old mother and siblings on the phone as Hamas broke into their home near the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The last thing he heard from his relatives were screams.
A mother and her daughter from Illinois are among the missing. The two had been visiting relatives about a kilometer from the Gaza border. Mother and daughter have been missing since the Hamas attack.
Canada reports three missing and two dead. In Saturday’s Hamas attack, a 33-year-old from Montreal was killed at the music festival. Days later it was reported that a 22-year-old man had also been killed.
The authorities in Great Britain estimate that 60,000 Britons are in Israel or Gaza. More than ten people are missing. Among them is a 20-year-old soldier and a Scot with his family. Both had emigrated to Israel. There has also been no trace of Jake Marlowe, security guard at the music festival in Israel, since Saturday. The fate of the men remains uncertain.
Out of Ireland 22-year-old Kim Damti is missing. She was last seen at the Nova music festival in Israel. The young woman has Israeli and Irish citizenship.
Italy missing a couple with dual citizenship who lived on a kibbutz near the Gaza border. Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani assumes that they were kidnapped.
ThailandThe Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday 18 citizens killed and 11 people abducted. Eight others were injured.
The authorities in Nepal reported ten dead citizens on Sunday. These were students who had gone to Israel to work.
Werder Bremen is looking for a missing fan
Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents hope their son is still alive. A picture that the family found online shows the 23-year-old with a friend behind a bomb shelter near the concert building. A witness the family was able to locate reported how Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken away in a car by Hamas along with other people. The last tracking on the smartphone shows that the 23-year-old passed the Gaza border. The family doesn’t know where the young man is now. The Werder Bremen football club is now also involved in the search for the young fan. The SVW posted a photo via X (formerly Twitter) with a call for help.
Sources: “The Tiems of Israel“, “Los Angeles Times“, ABC News“The standard“, “The press“, “New York Times“, ReutersThailand, BBC, CBC, BBC World, Ansa.en, RTEwith material from DPA and AFP