Even as attempts to save the hostages captured by Hamas continue, the militants have warned that they will begin executing an Israeli civilian captive in return for any new Israeli bombing of civilian houses without pre-warning.
This came as Israel called up an unprecedented 3,00,000 reservists and imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, raising fears it planned a ground assault.
Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said they have been acting in accordance with Islamic instructions by keeping the Israeli captives safe and sound, blaming the intended move on Israel's stepped-up bombing and killing of civilians inside their homes in air strikes without warning them.
The violence, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives, prompted international declarations of support for Israel after a devastating weekend attack by Hamas, and appeals for an end to the fighting and protection of civilians.
Israeli TV channels said the death toll from the Hamas attack had climbed to 900 Israelis, with at least 2,600 injured, and hundreds taken captive. Among the Israeli dead were 260 mostly young people gunned down at a desert music festival, where some of the hostages were abducted.
Hundreds of innocent people have been captured by Hamas fighters and their tragic stories continue to haunt us. Among the many, here are a few below.
Sister of Israeli TV personality killed ˇ®execution styleˇŻ while hiding
A 27-year-old Israeli woman was killed ˇ°execution styleˇ± while playing dead in hopes of being spared by Hamas gunmen during the invasion of the trance music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip where they massacred scores of partygoers on Saturday.
MaˇŻayan Adam, 36, a television host who appeared on IsraelˇŻs version of ˇ°Dancing With The Starsˇ± and anchors a news program on one of the countryˇŻs popular TV stations, posted a heartbreaking message to her 300,000 Instagram followers announcing the death of her 27-year-old sister, Mapal Adam.
MaˇŻayan Adam wrote that the family was ˇ°crushed to piecesˇ± and was suffering ˇ°pain that I didnˇŻt know existed.ˇ±
US youth's chilling text before he went missing from Israeli rave
A 23-year-old American Israeli who was attending the music festival that was disrupted by Hamas terrorists on Saturday texted his parents ˇ°I love youˇ± and ˇ°IˇŻm sorryˇ± before becoming unreachable ˇŞ as horrifying videos of attackers paragliding into the party and kidnapping attendees emerged.
Hersh Golberg-Polin, who just turned 23 this week, was celebrating in the desert in northern Negev when Hamas militants invaded the party, his father told the Jerusalem Post.
ˇ°We just want him home and safe,ˇ± his father, Jonathon Polin, told the outlet, adding that if he could tell his son anything, he would say: ˇ°We love you. Come home to us.ˇ±
Elderly Holocaust survivor in wheelchair kidnapped by Hamas
An elderly Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair is among the more than 100 people taken hostage by Hamas this weekend, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.?The Palestinian assault on Israel was the worst in 50 years ˇŞ since the Yom Kippur War in 1973 ˇŞ and also vastly different, Blinken told ABC NewsˇŻ ˇ°This Week.ˇ±
ˇ°As weˇŻve seen so graphically, literally dragging people across the border with Gaza, including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children,ˇ± Blinken said.
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The shocking images of the bodies of hundreds of Israelis sprawled across the streets of towns, gunned down at the outdoor dance party and abducted from their homes were like nothing seen before in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A Hamas spokesman claimed that the number of Israeli hostages taken is ˇ°many times greater than what Netanyahu thinks.ˇ±
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced ˇ°We are at warˇ± and vowed Hamas would pay ˇ°a price it has never known.ˇ±
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