More than 900 dead and thousands injured. The number of casualties in Israel and the Gaza Strip has been rising steadily since Hamas' attack on Israeli territories on Saturday. The current death toll is more than 600 on the Israeli side and 313 dead in the Gaza Strip, with thousands wounded on both sides.
As well as many missing. Sometimes without news for several hours, many families are still searching for their loved ones on Sunday, not knowing if they are injured, have been taken hostage or have been killed. The situation on the ground is still chaotic as fighting continues.
Several identities revealed on the Israeli side
Quickly on Saturday, Magen David Adom, the equivalent of the Israeli Red Cross, announced the death of several people. One of the first to be made official was that of a woman in her 60s, who was killed in the northeastern Gaza Strip. The organization also said at midday that a member of one of its teams had been killed.
A local elected official on the Israeli side was also killed in the northeastern Gaza Strip. He was Ofir Liebstein, chairman of the regional council of Israeli border communities in the area. He "was killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists," the regional council said.
In May, I had the opportunity to meet with Mayor Ofir Liebstein in his beautiful city of Sha'ar HaNegev, Israel, a sister city of San Diego. Last night, Ofir was murdered protecting his city from Hamas terrorists. He was a wonderful man. I am heartbroken. #StandWithIsrael pic.twitter.com/Y4qY53b3Nq
— Shelley Zimmerman (@ChiefZimmerman) October 7, 2023
The Israeli army on Saturday deplored the death of Col. Yonathan Steinberg, 42, "during a clash with a terrorist near Kerem Shalom." The institution said it "shares the grief of his family."
Other soldiers were killed in clashes with Hamas forces and a page to pay tribute to them was set up. The profiles of these dead soldiers are gradually being published as they are identified. There were about 44 of them a few hours ago. At the time of writing this article, there are <> of them, including Yonathan Steinberg.
הותר לפרסום כי מפקד חטיבת הנח"ל, אלוף-משנה יהונתן שטיינברג ז"ל נהרג היום בהיתקלות עם מחבל סמוך לכרם שלום.
אלוף-משנה יהונתן שטיינברג ז"ל, בן 42 מהקיבוץ שומרייה, היה בדרכו לחילופי אש שניהלו פקודיו עם מחבלים. בדרכו, נתקל במחבל ונהרג במהלך חילופי אש סמוך לכרם שלום>> pic.twitter.com/BNNrVYW2vN
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 7, 2023
Funerals in Gaza
On the Palestinian side, several news agencies have attended funerals in recent hours, after Israeli strikes on Gaza that resulted in many deaths. Through a series of photos, Reuters recounts the funeral of the very young twins Ossayd and Mohammad Abu Hmaid, their mother and three sisters. According to officials, they were killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.
Two Thais, two Ukrainians and one Cambodian killed
Two Thais and a Cambodian were also killed in the clashes, the heads of government of the two Asian countries said on Sunday. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on X that he had received information from the Thai ambassador in Tel Aviv that "two Thais were killed in the violence." He did not elaborate further on the circumstances of the deaths, but added that Thailand's Foreign Ministry was working to evacuate its nationals from Israel.
Earlier, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet confirmed the death of a Cambodian student who was in Israel when the clashes broke out on Saturday.
On Sunday, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that two Ukrainian women had been killed in the offensive. "We have confirmed reports of the deaths of two Ukrainian women in Israel. Both women had been living in this country for a long time," Nikolenko said, adding that the consulate was in contact with the victims' relatives.
Without giving further details, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Sunday that Americans had also been killed on Saturday.
Many missing
Many have no news of their loved ones and are painfully waiting. In a video, a mother cries out for help after seeing Hamas footage in which she recognized her daughter lying dead or only unconscious in the back of a car, the German newspaper Bild reported. Originally from Germany but living in Israel, Shani Louk, who is in her 20s, was attending a festival in the south of the country at the time of the attack. His mother has not heard from him since. But "we still have hope," one of his cousins told The Washington Post.
The mother of Shani Louk, the woman whose body was seen on video in the back of a pick-up truck driven by Palestinian terrorists to Gaza, released a statement earlier today.
She confirmed she had seen her daughter on the video & asked the public for help with more information pic.twitter.com/LDcPsjGHP8
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 8, 2023
Jake Marlowe, a 26-year-old Briton, was at a rave party in the desert in Israel near the Gaza border on Friday night, probably the same festival as Shani Louk. He is missing, the Israeli embassy in the United Kingdom said on Sunday, without confirming a possible abduction. He had been living in Israel for two years and was providing security for the event.
His mother, Lisa, told the Jewish News newspaper that he called her Saturday morning "at 04:30 a.m." and described the rocket attacks. "Then at about 5:30 a.m., he wrote to me to say bad connection, everything is fine, I'll keep you posted, I promise you and that he loved me." But she hasn't heard from her since.
Jake Marlowe reassured mum Lisa that all would be OK minutes before Hamas gunmen attacked the party he was providing security forhttps://t.co/oUKF78IoRK
— Jewish News (@JewishNewsUK) October 8, 2023
In France, several families are also waiting for news of their loved ones. A 25-year-old French-Israeli man, who was also taking part in the festival in southern Israel, is missing. The parents "have had no news" since Saturday morning, Meyer Habib, a member of parliament affiliated with the LR, told BFMTV. "Today the highest probability is that he is a hostage of Hamas," he said, adding that a second family had contacted him about another missing French woman.
Asked about the number of French people missing or dead in Israel, Borne said it was "too early to confirm this toll, it will come when the time comes. In any case, I can assure you that we are very mobilized." "We will remain vigilant, we will wait for the information to come back, to be confirmed," she added, assuring that France "ensures that the security of our nationals is ensured in Israel."