A British citizen is missing in Israel following Hamas’ attack on Saturday, the Israeli Embassy in the UK has confirmed.
Jack Marlowe, 26, is “missing near Gaza” after an attack on a music festival near the village of Re’im in southern Israel on Saturday morning.
Mr Marlowe had been working for the security team at the festival. He has not been heard from since.
A spokesperson for the embassy told the PA news agency: “He is missing, we don’t know for sure that he is taken hostage or dead or in a hospital.”
His mother Lisa said she had last heard from him via text at around 5.30am on Saturday.
She told the Jewish News: “He was doing security at this rave and called me at 4.30am to say all these rockets were flying over.
“Then, at about 5.30am, he texted to say, ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,’ and that he loves me.”
Mr Marlowe moved to the city of Ma’alot in north Israel two years ago, she added.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom Tzipi Hotovely confirmed that a British citizen "is in Gaza" following kidnappings by Hamas in Israel, but did not clarify if they were being held hostage.
She told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “I know there is one British citizen who is in Gaza at the moment.
“The Israeli government is doing everything we can to help those who are held hostage and every citizen who is taken is returned.”
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said they would not comment on individual cases but added: “However, we can confirm we are in contact with - and assisting - the families of several individuals in Israel and the OPTs (Occupied Palestinian Territories).
“The safety of all British nationals continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice which is updated regularly.”
Rockets were fired across the border from the Gaza strip on Saturday morning while militants rampaged through nearby Israeli communities, taking captives, including women, children and the elderly.
Their air strikes and ground operations killed at least 300 Israelis and injured 1,452.
At least 313 Palestinians died and 1,900 were wounded following retaliatory strikes in a revenge campaign branded Operation Swords of Iron.
Rockets rained down on cities including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the early morning blitz, penetrating the nation’s £600million Iron Dome missile defence system.
Hamas said it fired a further 150 missiles at Tel Aviv in response to airstrikes on Gaza City, while Israeli energy minister Israel Katz cut off Gaza’s electricity supply.
Air-raid sirens sounded across southern and central Israel as hundreds of explosions rocked Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Yavne and Kfar Aviv. Millions of Israelis were celebrating Jewish holy day Shabbat.
