Skeletal remains of a woman have been found buried in Ireland, solving a six-year-long mystery.

Irish police investigating the disappearance of Ms Satchwell found skeletal remains at the home in Youghal, Co Cork earlier this week.

A man in his 50s was arrested following the discovery.

Ms Satchwell, originally from Fermoy, was 45 when last seen alive, and has been missing from her home in Youghal since March 2017.

Police launched a major search operation at a house and surrounding grounds on Tuesday.

And it was late on Wednesday that the human remains were discovered, the Irish police service, An Garda Siochana has said.

The remains were removed on Thursday and transported to Cork University Hospital for further examination, including a DNA analysis.

A man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday and released without charge on Wednesday.

Gardai then said a man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday after the discovery of human remains.

He is currently being held at County Cork Garda station.

Alongside the search at the home in Youghal, gardai confirmed a second search was carried out at a location between Youghal and Killeagh in County Cork.

The search involved using heavy machinery, including a digger.

A large screen has now been put up around the property and grounds where the human remains were found.

People have stopped to lay flowers in memory of Ms Satchwell.

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The parents of a woman who was taken hostage by Hamas have wished their daughter a happy 26th birthday.

Sharing a message via the state of Israel’s official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, they said they hope the messages will ‘somehow’ reach missing Noa Argamani.

Noa was reportedly abducted during a music festival on Saturday.

The post includes a photo of Noa smiling with a beautiful backdrop of mountains behind her, as well as the hashtag #HappyBirthdayNoa.

It is urging people to share the post as widely as possible so that it might reach Noa, who is believed to be among Hamas’s hostages.

Hamas carried out an attack on Israel on Saturday, which left more than 1,200 people dead, according to an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson.

They attacked crowds early in the morning on Saturday at the Supernova music festival in Kibbutz, Re’im, about three miles from the Gaza border.

A video has been shared showing festivalgoers being marched away by Hamas.

Relatives of Noa Argamani and her partner Avinatan Or said to Israeli media that the couple had been taken hostage.

The post on X, shared yesterday, reads: ‘This beautiful woman is named Noa. She was taken hostage by Hamas during a music festival.

‘Today is her 26th birthday. Her parents ask that we all wish her a happy birthday with the hope that maybe somehow these messages will reach her. Please share. #HappyBirthdayNoa’

Since the attack on Saturday, the Israeli death toll has surpassed 1,300. 

In further updates, Palestinian health officials say that at least 1,200 people have died in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

More than 338,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said.

Multiple governments have arranged repatriation flights from Tel Aviv for their citizens.

Israeli strikes overnight targeted Hamas’s Nukhba, which spearheaded Saturday’s attacks.

Hamas media said 15 Palestinians had been killed and several wounded.

No decision on a ground incursion has been made, but the Israeli military said it is ‘preparing’ for it.

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A staffer at the Israeli embassy in Beijing has been stabbed in the street.

Police arrested the 53-year-old attacker, described as a foreigner, while the Israeli government confirmed the 50-year-old victim is in a stable condition in hospital.

No motive was given for the attack, which took place close to the embassy, but it comes after Israel criticised China’s statement following the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

It also occurred against the backdrop of worldwide protests by Muslims at Israel’s intense retaliatory bombing campaign in Gaza.

An investigation into the attack is underway, the statement said.

Unverified videos on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a blood-stained man lying on the pavement by a car, telling bystanders he was from the Israeli embassy.

In the video, a police officer can be heard identifying himself as a member of the Xinyuanli police station, located in northeastern Beijing, near the embassy district and a popular market frequented by foreigners for fresh produce.

Earlier, on Thursday, Israeli ambassador Rafi Harpaz spoke with China’s envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, to express his country’s ‘deep disappointment’ at Beijing’s response to the Hamas attack.

The foreign ministry said there was ‘no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza’.

It added: ‘The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society.’

Asked about the Israeli statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that China opposes acts harming citizens and violating international law.

‘China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks,’ he said.

In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers.

Just over a mile away at the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence.

Since the war broke out, anti-Semitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media.

Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account.

The embassy selected a comment that said, ‘Support Israel! Destroy the terrorist organization!’ — the remarks got 5,700 likes.

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A teacher has been stabbed to death in an attack at a school in France which also left two colleagues critically injured.

The suspected knifeman stormed the Gambetta-Carnot High School in the northern city of Arras late on Friday morning, authorities say.

According to local media, he shouted ‘God is great’ in Arabic before stabbing two teachers and a security worker, leaving one of the teachers fatally wounded.

The suspect, who has been named as 20-year-old Mohammed Mogouchkov, used to be a pupil at the school and was on a watchlist of known threats to national security, according to police sources cited in French reports.

He was described as being of Chechen origin, a majority-Muslim ethnic group concentrated in the Russian republic of Chechnya.

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, described the incident as an act of ‘barbaric Islamic terrorism’.

The national terror threat level has been raised and local authorities have been ordered to ramp up security at all schools.

Later on Friday, a 24-year-old man on the same terror watchlist, was arrested while carrying a knife just outside a high school hundreds of kilometres away in Limay.

The teacher who died in Arras, 50-year-old French language teacher Dominique Bernard, ‘came forward to protect others and without doubt saved many lives’, Macron added.

Footage shared on social media appeared to show a confrontation in a courtyard at the heart of the school, which teaches pupils aged 15 to 18.

In one clip, a man in dark clothing and white trainers is seen aggressively stalking a man near a pair of parked vehicles while another man watches from nearby.

In another video, shot from a high-up window, the same man in white trainers is seen attacking two men, including one wielding a chair, who approached him along with two others.

A voice near the person filming is heard exclaiming: ‘They’re fighting! He has a chair, he has knives.

Another says: ‘He has a knife, guys, he has a knife.’

Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at the school who confronted the attacker, said he was wielding two-knives and believes he had a ‘political’ motive.

He told BFM TV: ‘It lasted around 10 minutes. When I saw that this person was attacking the head cook, I went towards him to ask him to stop.

‘When he turned to ask if I was a history teacher, I understood this was a political act. I don’t think he was looking for one person in particular.

Mr Doussau separately told Reuters the attack ended in a ‘relatively peaceful manner’ when police stunned the suspect with what appeared to be a taser.

Both the suspect and his brother have been arrested, according to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

No pupils are believed to have been injured in the attack, which triggered an emergency lockdown and evacuation of the premises.

The two injured were said to be in ‘extremely’ critical condition, with one havingsuffered a wound to an artery in the neck.

Mr Darmanin and France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, were scheduled to visit Arras later on Friday in solidarity with the survivors.

A number of French politicians made references to the 2020 beheading of 47-year-old teacher Samuel Paty outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

His murderer, Abdoullakh Anzorov, also a Russian immigrant of Chechen origin, had been enraged by a social media frenzy surrounding the showing of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in one of Mr Paty’s classes.

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Bodies can be seen on the floor of a dark room in a video clip showing the astonishing moment hostages are rescued by Israeli soldiers.

Israel’s army has shared footage showing how its soldiers took back control of a checkpoint overrun by Hamas, and set the 250 hostages free on Saturday.

It’s unknown whether the bodies seen on the floor in the video taken at the Sufa checkpoint are hostages or terrorists.

The clip comes from body cameras worn by Israeli soldiers in the Flotilla 13 elite unit and released on Thursday evening.

The naval unit, which is equivalent to the US army’s naval SEALS, specialises in counter terrorism.

The video also shows a group of people, presumably hostages, standing in a different room as soldiers enter.

One of the officers in the video can be heard shouting: ‘Shayetet, Shayetet, stay in the bunker, we’re coming.’

They are using the Hebrew name for their unit.

The nationalities and identities of the hostages released have not yet been shared. Around 20 US nationals that were abducted remain unaccounted for.

Just hours after the video of the hostage rescue was released, Israel’s army directed residents in Gaza City to evacuate ‘for their own safety and protection’.

It comes ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive.

This is after a UN spokesperson claimed the military directed the evacuation of all of northern Gaza, which is home to about 1.1 million people, within 24 hours.

It would mean evacuating nearly half of the population in the territory in one day, which the UN claimed is ‘impossible’.

In the assault on the checkpoint, which sits along the southern border with Gaza, close to the Egyptian border, soldiers can be seen moving door to door and facing a lot of resistance.

The Israeli troops are throwing grenades into rooms to get the Hamas terrorists out, and shell casings from guns can be seen flying around.

The IDF said it killed around 60 Hamas terrorists and arrested 26, including deputy commander of the Hamas southern Naval Division, Muhammad Abu A’ali.

A man, who seems to be naked, can be seen being led out and is then handcuffed. He has blood all over his back and shoulders.

The death toll is now 1,200 in Israel and 1,500 in Gaza.

It’s believed Hamas has taken 150 people hostage, and Americans and Brits are likely to be among them.

They are threatening to execute the hostages if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza.

US president Joe Biden has spoken out to call the Hamas attack on Israel the ‘deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust’ and a campaign of ‘pure cruelty’.

President Biden said: ‘We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts.

‘Now, the press are going to shout to me: what are you doing to bring these folks home? If I told you, I wouldn’t be able to get them home. 

‘Folks, there’s a lot we’re doing, a lot we’re doing.

‘I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home. 

‘But the idea that I’m going to stand here before you and tell you what I’m doing is bizarre. So, I hope you understand how bizarre I think it would be to try to answer that question.’

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An American-Israeli family reportedly told friends they were dying in horrific messages sent as Hamas rampaged through their community.

Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov, her husband Johny and their three young children were living in the Nir Oz kibbutz, a few kilometres from Gaza, when militants broke through Israel’s fortifications.

They were killed on Saturday along with Johny’s 70-year-old mum Carol on Sunday and dozens more civilians.

Only 160 of their 400 neighbours are known to still be alive, with survivors describing waking up to a ‘kibbutz in flames’ and the sounds of gunfire.

Friends of the Siman Tovs initially received reassurances that the family was safe, but reality started to set in as news of the savage attack spread around the world.

‘Hi guys, we got into the shelter in our house, we’re all going okay,’ Tamar messaged her friends in Sydney, Yishai and Mor Lacob, at around 2.45pm on Saturday.

Mor told the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘It started to get really scary. We’re trying to call her, message her.

‘We were trying to speak with people there … people we might know in this area, we were harassing everyone.’

The Lacobs say they stopped receiving messages from their friends around an hour later.

Johny’s sister, Ranae Butler, then received an terrifying update from her brother.

‘They’re here. They’re burning us. We’re suffocating,’ he wrote, in messages seen by CNN.

Johny, 36, Tamar, 35, their children, two-year-old Omer and five-year-old twins, Arbel and Schachar, and Carol have all since been found dead.

The cause of death for the parents and children has not been confirmed, although Carol is known to have been shot dead in the safe room of her nearby home.

They are among 27 US citizens known to have been killed in the assault, with 14 still missing.

Israel says more than 1,300 people were killed in rocket attacks and ground assaults by Hamas.

Palestinian authorities say 1,500 have been killed in Gaza, including 500 children, since the start of Israel’s retaliatory air strikes.

The identities of nearly 100 Israeli hostages taken to Gaza has been confirmed, though the actual number is expected to climb significantly.

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Two climbers who were competing for a world record title have died at the last hurdle.

Gina Marie Rzucidlo and Anna Gutu, both Americans, were climbing the 26,335ft Mount Shishapangma in Tibet when they lost their lives.

They were competing to become the first American woman to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks – and this was the final summit for both of their challenges.

They died in separate locations after the mountain was hit by a series of avalanches over the weekend, the Telegraph reports.

Ms Gutu died alongside her Nepalese guide, Mingmar Sherpa, while Ms Rzucidlo and her guide Tenjen Sherpa were declared missing on the same day.

There was hope that 45-year-old Ms Rzucidlo and her guide might have survived the avalanche, but it’s now been confirmed that they also lost their lives.

Uta Ibrahimi, a mountaineer from Kosovo, turned back after the first avalanche hit but says she saw Ms Rzucidlo and her guide continue their climb.

More than 50 mountaineers were trying to reach the summit of Mount Shishapangma, which is the 14th highest mountain in the world and the only mountain above 8,000 metres which is entirely within Tibet.

Ms Rzucidlo’s sister Christy Lavallee said: ‘The Chinese authorities have declared my sister Gina and her Sherpa Tenjen Lama as deceased.

‘Requests for search by helicopter from Nepal have been declined by the Chinese government.

‘We have been told the search for their bodies may resume in the spring once weather conditions are favourable.

‘We’re all devastated. We fluctuate between feeling numb and just crying. 

‘This is something she had been working on for a few years now. It’s heartbreaking because she was so, so close.’

Tenjen Sherpa, Ms Rzucidlo’s climbing companion, recently set a record along with Norwegian climber Kristin Harila for climbing the world’s 14 tallest peaks in the fastest time.

They completed the challenge in 92 days, with their final ascent being K2 in Pakistan in July. They had climbed Mount Shishapangma in April.

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Dozens of Palestinians have been killed and injured after the Israeli military bombed refugee camps in Al-Shati and Jabalia.

The camps have been the latest Palestinian settlements to be targeted by Israeli forces as they continue to escalate their war on Gaza after an attack by Hamas over the weekend killed 1,300 Israelis and injured thousands more.

Follow the latest updates from Israel-Palestine on our live blog

Palestinian news agency WAFA confirmed an attack hit a market area in Jabalia, ‘killing and wounding dozens and causing heavy destruction’. 

The Reuters news agency also quoted the Gaza-based Ministry of Health as saying the attack has killed and wounded dozens of people.

Numerous children were reported to have been killed in the attack, Al Jazeera reports. Following the strikes, men were seen clawing through the rubble to recover an infant’s tiny body from the rubble and another small boy was laid to rest at the local cemetery, his body shrouded in a white cloth.

Local man Nasser Abu Quta told reporters 19 members of his family, including his wife, had been killed when an air strike hit their home.

There were no fighters in his building, he said. ‘This is a safe house, with children and women,’ he told the AP press agency via telephone.

Another strike in the same city early Monday killed 11 people, including women and children.

Similar scenes of devastation were reported at the Shati refugee camp, also known as Beach Camp, where ‘dozens’ of casualties were rushed to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after suffered severe injuries at the hands of Israeli bombers.

At least 1,417 Palestinians are now confirmed to have died since Saturday, according to the Gaza health ministry.

More than a third of the civilians killed in the barrages of airstrikes on Gaza since Saturday are children.

At least 447 children have died, Gaza’s health ministry has confirmed.

The Israeli army has called up about 300,000 reservists following the weekend’s attacks, and said in a statement it would aim to end Hamas’s rule of Gaza.

‘We have never drafted so many reservists on such a scale,” Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, told reporters. “We are going on the offensive.’

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned civilians to get away from all Hamas sites, which he has promised to turn ‘to rubble’.

During a televised address, he vowed to crush Hamas and said Israel’s response would ‘reverberate with their enemies for generations’.

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Chilling text messages have been sent from the phone of a man feared to have been abducted by Hamas.

30-year-old Orión Hernández Radoux was attending the Supernova music festival not far from the Gaza border when Hamas attacked.

He’s the boyfriend of 22-year-old Shani Louk, a tattoo artist who was feared dead after her partially clothed body was filmed being paraded on the back of a pickup truck.

Follow the latest on the Israel-Hamas conflict over on our live blog

It’s now thought she is in hospital in Gaza with a serious head injury.

Orión was reported missing following the attack and it is now feared he is being held hostage by Hamas.

Messages written in Arabic were sent from his phone, The Sun reports.

They translate to: ‘The next victory, O Zionist, is that it will remain Palestine – as long as God’s curse be upon you, O Zionists.

‘Palestine will be liberated, and Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine, and Palestine will be free – cells from you, O Zionists, will not prevail against you.’

At least 260 bodies have been recovered from the site of the music festival after Hamas broke through the border.

26-year-old Jake Marlowe, a Brit who had moved to Israel two years ago, was working security at the festival and has since been confirmed to have died.

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A distraught father says he was ‘relieved’ to hear that his missing eight-year-old daughter had been killed by Hamas, because being kidnapped by the group was a fate ‘worse than death’.

Thomas Hand told reporters of his unbearable two-day wait for news about his daughter Emily after militants stormed their kibbutz on Saturday, massacring at least 100 people.

Mr Hand said the kibbutz was beseiged by gunfire for around 12 hours, during which he did not know his child’s fate or whereabouts after she had gone to stay overnight at a friend’s house the day before.

During a heartbreaking interview with CNN, Mr Hand broke down in tears as he recounted the moment he was finally told his daughter’s body was found.

‘They said, we found Emily, she’s dead,’ he told interviewers. ‘And I just went “yes!” I went “yes” and I smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew.

‘That was the best news of the possibilities that I knew…

‘She was either dead, or in Gaza, and if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death,’ he said.

He said her ‘death was a blessing. An absolute blessing.’

‘She was either dead, or in Gaza. And if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death.

‘They’d have no food. They’d have no water. She’d be in a dark room filled with Christ knows how many people. And terrified every minute, hour, day, and possible years to come. So death was a blessing. An absolute blessing.’

Beyond the estimated 1,200 Israelis killed over the weekend, scores of Israelis have also been captured by Hamas, whose conditions and whereabouts remain unknown.

The Be’eri kibbutz was, until Saturday, known as an artistic and farming community of 1,200 people.

The site was not declared safe for outsiders until Tuesday when all the bodies of Israeli victims had been removed. The burnt and mangled corpses of Hamas fighters were, however, still lying in heaps on the outskirts of the kibbutz.

Multiple reporters spoke of the ‘sickening’ smell of death and blood as they were escorted through the site of the massacre.

‘You can see the floors are stained with blood,’ said Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst as he brought viewers inside one of kibbutz’s bullet-riddled houses.

‘It was Saturday morning, around 7am, when militants stormed this village. You can see the weapons they brought with them, extra ammunition, bullet holes in the side of the house and knives on the floor.’

‘It is completely destroyed. It looks like some of the buildings were hit with RPGs, explosives.’

Yingst described the scene as ‘hell on earth’ and said it was the most horrifying site he has been to in his reporting career.

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A cosmetics brand has caused a stir after placing a ‘boycott Israel’ sign in the window of one of its shops.

The sign was put up in the window of Lush’s branch in Henry Street, Dublin over the weekend in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

A photograph of the sign was shared on X, formerly Twitter, showing the sign hanging above a display of bath bombs and other cosmetics.

Follow our live blog for latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war

The picture sparked backlash, with a number of people claiming they would never purchase from the brand again – though there were some comments in support of Lush’s stance.

The poster was taken down shortly after it was put up.

A spokesman for Lush said: ‘This week, one shop within the UK and Ireland business briefly displayed a “boycott Israel” message in their window.

‘It was an isolated occurrence that does not represent the Lush ethos that “all are welcome, always” and was swiftly removed.

‘Lush deplores all violence and all injustice and our wish is for peace and safety for all Israeli and Palestinian people.

‘We support the upholding of international law and the human rights of all peoples.’

The latest conflict between Israel and Palestine began when terror group Hamas attacked a music festival not far from the border with Gaza. So far 260 bodies have been recovered from the site.

The ex-head of MI6 says Israel’s failure to predict an attack from Hamas was due to a ‘lack of imagination’.

Since then Israel has launched a number of counter-attacks, as well as cutting off supplies including food and electricity to the Gaza Strip.

The IDF now says it is preparing for a ground incursion into Gaza – though such a measure hasn’t yet been ordered.

There have been hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian casualties so far, with thousands injured.

MORE : Harry and Meghan break silence on Israel-Hamas war

MORE : Ofcom urged to investigate BBC over ‘partial’ Israel coverage

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An Irish-Israeli woman who vanished after Hamas militants swarmed a weekend rave in Israel has been confirmed dead by her family and officials.

The music festival in Re’im in southern Israel was one of the first places Hamas, a militant group which governs Gaza, attacked in their early-morning incursion.

Kim Damit, 22, was last seen at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering which saw a night of dancing to trance tunes end in a bloody massacre Saturday morning with at least 250 dead.

Her sister Laura paid tribute to Kim on Facebook, calling her ‘our angel, our flower’.

‘Kim, my blood. Who was murdered by the cursed terrorists,’ she said.

In a statement to Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, Kim’s aunt Pat Cooper, from Portlaoise, a town in Laois County, thanked those who supported the family ‘with love and encouragement’.

Cooper added: ‘For now all we have is hope.’

Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin said with a sense of ‘immense sadness’ on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Kim had been killed.

He said yesterday: ‘When news reached us over the weekend that an Irish citizen was one of the many hundreds missing after the repugnant terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel, we hoped against hope that she would be found safely.

‘The news that this hope has now been extinguished is devastating.

‘Anyone looking at the photo of Kim in the media over the last few days will have been struck by the radiance and energy in her expression; a young 22-year-old woman with a whole life ahead of her, full of promise.’

Martin added that Irish government officials are supporting Kim’s loved ones and he has spoken with them.

‘We are with them in their grief,’ he said, adding: ‘Our thoughts remain with all the families of those who have died, who are injured or who are missing in the wake of these terrible events.’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar added: ‘As a nation we are united in mourning for Kim Damti. This vibrant young Irish-Israeli woman was struck down in her prime, with her adult life ahead of her.

‘Her death, and the deaths of more than a thousand other citizens of Israel and from around the world, was senseless and barbaric.’

The official State of Israel X account, managed by the nation’s foreign ministry, also paid tribute.

‘This beautiful girl with Israeli and Irish citizenship was murdered by Hamas. Rest in peace Kim,’ the account said in a post today.

Supernova was a weekend-long outdoor rave attended by about 3,500 people.

But an alarm blared at around 7am on Saturday warning of a rocket attack hurtling towards them, with festival-goers fleeing to bushes and underneath vehicles as the weapons whistled above them and armed Hamas fighters flooded the Negev desert.

The death toll in Israel reached more than 1,300 – a tally which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says is made up ‘overwhelmingly of civilians’ – with at least 2,700 wounded.

At least 1,203 citizens have been killed in Palestine and 5,763 injured ‘with various wounds’, Gazan health officials said today.

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A British student pilot has been killed after a plane crash in Spain.

The 26-year-old was flying in a light aircraft with a Spanish pilot when it crashed in a national park in the Andalucian province of Almeria.

The crash happened just after midnight on Wednesday.

The passenger has not yet been named, but the pilot has been identified as 24-year-old Rafael Ricote. He worked as an instructor at a Malaga-based aviation school.

They had taken off from an aerodrome in Velez-Malaga, east of Malaga, and were reportedly flying towards the city of Valencia when the crash happened.

The pair had just stopped to refuel at nearby Almeria Airport before continuing their journey, and no mayday calls were received before the crash.

Civil Guard mountain rescue experts recovered the men’s bodies from the wreckage of the plane. Police and civil aviation accident investigators have now launched separate investigations.

A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency response coordination centre confirmed: ‘Two people died in an air accident in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the municipality of Nijar.

‘An emergency call was received around 12.30am from Valencia Airport indicating contact had been lost with a light aircraft in the area around Cerro del Fraile.

‘The caller indicated the plane belonged to a flight training school in Malaga and was heading to Valencia with two people on board.

‘Firefighters were immediately alerted as well as police forces including the Civil Guard and National Police, coastguards, civil protection workers and other responders.

‘Fire crews subsequently confirmed they had found the bodies of two people in a difficult-to-access area around Cerro del Fraile.’

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The war between Israel and Hamas rages on as rockets shower Gaza and other atrocities affect civilians across the nation.

Israeli forces vowed to turn the Gaza Strip into ‘rubble’ following a surprise attack by Hamas.

The country has launched retaliatory strikes in over 200 locations throughout Gaza, killing more than 700 people and injuring 4,000 more after Hamas troops breached the Gaza border and killed hundreds of civilians, taking scores more hostage.

Follow our live blog for latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war.

So far the conflict has claimed more than 1,700 lives on both sides, with over 187,500 people displaced from the Strip.

As the war continues, many have wondered what Hamas is, when it was founded, and why the group is attacking Israel.

Here’s everything we know about the militant group.

What is Hamas?

Hamas is a Palestinian militant group formed in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian refugee in Gaza.

The name Hamas is the Arabic acronym for ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’ and is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian group founded in the 1920s.

The group came together during the first intifada in the country, also known as an uprising, which saw widespread protests against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

In 2006, Hamas won Palestine’s presidential election after beating rival political party Fatah, and in 2007, they took control of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has renounced the Oslo Accord signed by Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1993 which established a self-government for parts of the West Bank and Gaza for the Palestinian Authority.

Who are the leaders?

Hamas has a number of leaders across the organisation that cover political, military, and other functions.

Ismail Haniyeh has been the group’s political chief since 2017 following Khaled Meshaal. Hamas’ founder, Yassin, was killed by Israeli forces in 2004.

Yahya Sinwar oversees affairs in Gaza after previously heading the military operations of Hamas, which is now controlled by Marwan Issa and Mohammed Deif.

The Lebanon branch of Hamas is reportedly controlled by Saleh al-Arouri who also took over the group’s West Bank leadership.

Why are they attacking Israel?

Hamas has called for the ‘annihilation’ of Israel and over the years has carried out numerous suicide bombings and launched rockets into the country.

The group launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 which saw them kill hundreds of civilians, Israeli armed forces, and take hostages.

Thousands of rockets were fired into southern and central Israel, with Hamas militants also breaching the Gaza border.

The assault, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, was described by Deif as ‘the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth.’

Haniyeh said on Saturday that the group was ‘engaged in these historic moments in a heroic operation’ to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

‘This was the morning of defeat and humiliation upon our enemy, its soldiers and its settlers. What happened reveals the greatness of our preparation. What happened today reveals the weakness of the enemy,’ he continued.

Is Hamas a terrorist organisation in the UK?

Hamas was deemed a terrorist group in its entirety as of 2021.

This means that members of Hamas or those who invite support for the group could be jailed for up to 14 years.

During coverage of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the BBC has been criticised for not using the word ‘terrorist.’

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told LBC: ‘I actually think it is verging on disgraceful, this idea that there is some sort of equivalence, and they’ll always say, well there’s two sides,” he told LBC.

He continued: ‘They are not freedom fighters, they are not militants, they are pure and simple terrorists and it’s remarkable to go to the BBC website and still see them talking about gunmen and militants and not calling them terrorists.’

However, a BBC spokesperson defended the coverage, saying: ‘We always take our use of language very seriously.

‘Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word “terrorist” used many times – we attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK Government.

‘This is an approach that has been used for decades and is in line with that of other broadcasters.

‘The BBC is an editorially independent broadcaster whose job is to explain precisely what is happening “on the ground” so our audiences can make their own judgement.’

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MORE : Bar workers tell of dramatic escape after Hamas gunmen attack party on Israeli beach

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MORE : The first #FakeNews war: The dangers of misinformation during the Israel-Hamas conflict laid bare

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The boyfriend of a woman who was kidnapped by Hamas has sent chilling text messages to friends in Arabic, it has been claimed.

The whereabouts of Shani Louk, 22, remain unclear after footage of her apparently lifeless body was paraded on a pickup truck in Gaza and sparked outrage.

Her mum Ricarda Louk, said her family had received word she is alive but has a serious head injury and is in critical condition.

Follow the latest on the Israel-Hamas war on our live blog here.

Shani’s boyfriend Orión Hernández Radoux was also abducted after he was reported missing it is understood.

Jenny Wenhammer, who is in contact with Orión’s friends, wrote on social media: ‘Someone has used his phone, and a threatful message has been sent in Arabic.

‘But apart from that, there’s currently no more information about Orión.

‘He is from Mexico and he has a French citizenship too.

‘He travelled to the Supernova music festival Universo Parallelo, by the village of Re’im, where Hamas massacred at least 260 young peaceful persons from many countries.

‘He was there with Shani to share his knowledge of Mexican traditional huichol art, and to DJ.’

Another friend wrote on Facebook: ‘Orion was at Parallel Universe, a festival that was attacked in Israel… still no word from him…. if anyone knows anything, please help us find him.

‘Many people were kidnapped, others are still missing or hidden, and many others were left dead by the forces of Hamas.’

Another wrote: ‘Today is one of the most uncertain days of our lives, my friend Orion… was kidnapped by the extremist group Hamas, we ask all our friends and acquaintances to keep us in prayer until Orion returns well.’

Hamas had previously claimed Shani’s body was a female Israeli soldier – but Shani’s cousin, Tomasina Weintraub-Louk, was able to identify her by her dreadlocked hair and leg tattoos.

Palestinian sources have now told her family that Shani is in a Hamas hospital.

Ricarda previously told German outlet Bild: ‘We now have evidence that Shani is alive but has a serious head injury and is in critical condition. Every minute is critical.’

Shani grew up in Israel but has a German passport. She was a conscientious objector to mandatory military service in the Israeli military due to her pacifist views.

MORE : TV star warns of a ‘Holocaust’ after fleeing Israel

MORE : Mum screams in street after learning her children were killed in Israeli strike

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Hospitals in Gaza are ‘running out of medicine and generator fuel’ as doctors prepare to turn wounded patients away.

More than 700 people have been killed and 4,000 injured after Israel launched launched a barrage of missile strikes in response to Hamas’ unprecedent attack.

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Israel has also suspended supplies of food, water and fuel to Palestinians, leaving the country to be left without mains electricity.

Doctors have revealed they will have to start turning away wounded patients as the ‘quantity of wounded people arriving is huge’.

Dr. Ashraf Al- Qidra, said: ‘We are talking about full beds in hospitals across Gaza, adding to this that the medication and supplies are about to run out. Also the fuel and the generator are close to running out. 

‘There will be a real issue impending – as the electricity company alerted us that they will completely stop work – which will be reflected on all those wounded by the Israeli aggression, and the sick people of Gaza.

‘For sure the quantity of the wounded people arriving to our hospitals are huge and will mean we will not be able to accept more patients in Gaza.

‘We need a safe passage to receive medical supplies to Gaza. And to be able to take the wounded people from Gaza elsewhere to get them hospitalised.

‘The coming hours are very sensitive and may be very shocking to all the health sector and for all people.’

At least 140 Palestinian children have been killed since Saturday, human rights group Defence for Children International Palestine has confirmed.

The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is only expected to escalate as Israel remains determined to crush the militant group.

In Israel, at least 1,200 have been killed, while officials in Gaza say 900 people have been killed.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said ‘all restraints on fighters have been released’ and promised an intensification of fighting.

‘Hamas wanted a change and it will get one. What was in Gaza will no longer be,’ he said.

‘We started the offensive from the air, later on we will also come from the ground. We’ve been controlling the area since Day Two and we are on the offensive. It will only intensify.

‘Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors — we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise.’

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A British man who was working at a music festival attacked by Hamas has died, his family has confirmed.

Jake Marlowe, 26, was reported missing after the Supernova music festival not far from the Gaza border was attacked on Saturday.

A statement released by his parents, Lisa and Michael Marlowe, said: ‘We are heartbroken to have to inform you the crushing news that our son Jake has been confirmed dead in southern Israel.’

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Jake was working as part of a security team at the dance music festival near Re’im.

He lived in Ma’alot, in northern Israel, having moved to the country permanently in 2021.

His death has also been confirmed by the Israeli Embassy in London, who said: ‘UK national Jake Marlowe, now confirmed dead in southern Israel. Repatriation plans being put in place.’

At least 260 bodies have been recovered from the festival site.

It’s currently believed there are 17 UK nationals, including children, either dead or missing in Israel.

Nathaniel Young, 20, who attended the same school as Jake, was serving in the Israeli army when he was killed during Hamas’s attack.

Bernard Cowan, who grew up near Glasgow, was confirmed dead by his siblings, and photographer Daniel Darlington was also confirmed dead by his sister.

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In the early hours of Sunday morning (8 October), I was trying to help my kids fall asleep after a long and horrifying night of bombings in our home city of Gaza.

Then my world literally came crashing down.

I watched my TV, shocked, at the news that the Al-Watan Tower – which houses my design studio office – had been completely destroyed. I was scared and overwhelmed.

For the first few seconds, I could only wonder what I had done to deserve my dream and accomplishments being reduced to rubble in an instant.

Thankfully, ever since the recent escalation of conflict started this weekend, my family – including my wife, three kids, and my two parents – and I are unharmed. But this is sadly not the case for others in Gaza.

I was born and raised in the Gaza Strip, but living in a conflict-ridden area comes with continuous suffering and never-ending challenges. Life here is incredibly unstable. 

In 2014, I worked tirelessly to set up my studio, where I design jewellery. I made my business into what essentially functioned as a small museum for my private collection of souvenirs and memories that I had collected from the countries I had travelled to throughout my life.

I wanted to create my own special world where I could cope with the pressures and challenges of life in Gaza. And I wanted it to be in a landmark building for homes and businesses – the Al-Watan Tower – in the centre of Gaza City.

It was my workplace and where I earned income for my family, but it was also a safe haven. So watching it on TV literally crumble to the ground was horrendous.

Losing it was not just a devastating material loss and substantial cost, but also felt like the destruction of a life that I was trying to build.

I feel like all those precious memories and emotions, my own place, and my world – are lost. In a moment, an Israeli bomb turned it into a mountain of rubble.

The desolation didn’t stop there. My family and I had to move around to try and stay safe.

We’ve also seen neighbourhood after neighbourhood struck. Thankfully, we’re surviving. Many haven’t. 

In all the chaos and horror, I haven’t been able to go back to where my studio once stood because of the non-stop explosions around us. It is extremely dangerous to move in the streets because some homes and buildings are hit without warning and we never know what to expect.

There are hardly any words to describe how I feel. It is exceptionally horrifying and awful, overwhelmingly emotional and incredibly frustrating. There is nowhere to go. 

Even writing out my words has been so difficult. I haven’t been able to process the loss of my studio, my neighbourhood, and my world around me. There is not a moment of peace and the nights are most horrible.

As I’m writing this, at least 1,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip and over 5,000 injured. Israel has left us without water, food, electricity. It is unimaginable to be put through this horror and know the situation will only get more desperate.

It is unjust to prevent basic supplies just to survive to civilians. We are being suffocated and cut off from the world.

As a result, we might lose contact with our friends and family, not to mention the world outside of Gaza.

I’m a designer and an architect. My passion is in building and creating. To look around and see only destruction and rubble is unimaginable.

We don’t know what the future holds and what our communities will look like when we have to rebuild. And first we need to worry about now because we don’t know if we will be safe and together tomorrow. 

The level of loss is huge and painful. But we will rise again from under the ash and rubble. I want to rebuild my studio and recreate my dream in spite of all challenges and difficulties.

We still have hope – and it is the only tool we have to survive in our land and under these conditions.

We ask all the free people in the world to support us, speak out for us and against injustice, and stand with the innocent people.

We deserve the right to lead normal lives. We deserve the right to live. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE : Living in the UK, going home to Gaza is a nightmare

MORE : Nearly 200,000 people made homeless in Gaza by Israel’s bombing revenge

MORE : Inside Gaza, the most densely populated place on Earth

The UK’s foreign secretary has been forced to run for cover during a visit to southern Israel. 

A video showed James Cleverly and a group running into a building as air sirens blared in Ofakim. 

Follow our live blog for latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war

The feared attack comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to form an emergency government with the opposition party.

It is hard to spot the foreign secretary in the footage but you can see Mr Cleverly wearing red socks as he runs towards the entrance.

He arrived in Israel this morning as part of a trip to ‘demonstrate the UK’s unwavering solidarity’ with the country, a foreign office spokesman said earlier today.

Both the UK and the US have been among the major states offering firm backing to Israel but concerns have been expressed in the UN and elsewhere about the impact on civilians as air strikes continue to hit Gaza.

The conflict has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides, with fears it could escalate further.

The UK Government has made clear that Israel has the right to defend itself in the wake of the assault by Hamas amid an ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.

A Foreign Office spokesman said that Mr Cleverly is in Israel to ‘demonstrate the UK’s unwavering solidarity with the Israeli people following Hamas’s terrorist attacks’.

While there, he is expected to meet survivors of the attacks as well as senior Israeli figures.

His arrival in the country has sparked calls for the Foreign Secretary to express a ‘clear humanitarian position’ on the fate of civilians in Gaza.

The Israeli government has stopped the passage of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory, with the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down on Tuesday after air strikes near the border crossing.

The territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: ‘It’s entirely right that James Cleverly is offering his support to Israeli civilians who’ve suffered in these completely appalling attacks.

‘The horrific and completely unjustifiable human rights violations against Israeli civilians by Hamas – including war crimes – must end, and those responsible must be held to account.

‘Mr Cleverly should be urging all parties to the conflict, including the Israeli authorities, to respect international humanitarian law.’

Concerns remain for the safety of British citizens in the region, as the BBC reported that 17 UK nationals are either dead or missing, including children.

A previous estimate had put the figure at more than 10.

The UK Government has not so far confirmed any figures for those believed dead or missing, pointing to the fast-moving situation in the region.

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A gardener who impaled himself on a rusty metal fence pole that entered his body inches from his anus and went through his torso lives to tell the tale.

Frank Vaorin, 55, was pruning trees at his home in Cuxhaven, Germany, when he slipped off a ladder and landed on the three-inch thick pole.

Gruesome hospital scans show how the massive pole ended up emerging through his rib cage.

Frank is now making a full recovery in hospital because the pole avoided touching a single vital organ.

Frank said: I remember hanging there on the pole with my feet in the air.

‘My son quickly pushed something under my feet to stop the bar from slipping any further.’

He added that he was ‘conscious the whole time’ and said: ‘I would like to thank the doctors and rescue workers for saving my life and my son for how quickly he helped and called for help.

‘I’m just glad I’m still alive.’

Head surgeon Professor Hueseyin Bektas said: ‘The patient didn’t just have one guardian angel, there must have been many.’

Firefighters sawed off the pole and Frank was then transferred over to the care of paramedics.

Gesundheit Nord hospital, where Frank is being treated, said in a statement: ‘Frank Vaorin was incredibly lucky in his misfortune.

‘If the man from Cuxhaven had hit the pole in just a slightly different way, the injuries would have been much worse and the accident could even have been fatal.

Bektas added: ‘The fact that the rod didn’t injure a single organ is practically a miracle. I have never experienced a case like this in my entire career.

‘It is proof that you should never give up hope, even if the chance of rescue seems so small.’

Frank remains in hospital recovering from his injuries and coming to terms with the shock of the accident.

Hospital officials said: ‘He also has to mentally process the accident first, just like his son, who had to witness everything.’

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This is the heartbreaking moment a mother discovered two of her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Outside of the Al-Shifa Hospital, in the sealed-off Gaza Strip, a crowd of people fell silent amidst the woman’s desperate cries.

As Israel is in a state of war with Hamas, families in the tiny enclave feel helpless and abandoned, and many outside the hospital felt her pain.

Footage shared on social media shows the woman screaming in desperation in front of the emergency entrance, while a crying child tries to comfort her.

Follow our live blog for latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war

‘The kids vanished between my hands,’ she yells at people. ‘Where are my kids, please!

‘Enough is enough. We are poor people. My kids were killed without eating first.’

Just yesterday, Metro.co.uk reported on another devastating case outside the Al-Shifa Hospital where a doctor learnt one of the bodies brought to the site was of her husband’s.

Israel’s retaliatory strikes on the blockaded enclave have killed 1,055 people and wounded 5,184.

Around 60% of the casualties are women and children, according to Palestinian officials.

About 2.3 million Palestinians are packed into the narrow coastal Strip, with the situation turning increasingly desperate for them, with no way of fleeing.

The bodies of dead children killed in shelling were covered in blankets and carried by their parents in funeral processions. 

Footage emerging from levelled neighbourhoods shows fathers running with their wounded kids in arms to bring them to a hospital.

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British Airways has now suspended all flights to and from Israel over safety and security concerns.

It comes after a flight bound for the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv was forced to turn around earlier this afternoon.

The flight was about to land at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel when it was diverted due to security concerns, the airline said, and the pilot was instructed to return to London.

Israel’s airport authority said the decision to divert the plane was made by the pilot, denying there was a security threat at the airport – however they added there were rockets in the air near Tel Aviv at the time.

Hamas’s armed wing said it had ‘bombarded’ Ben Gurion Airport in response to civilians being targeted by Israel, and one missile struck its target, Sky News reports.

A BA spokesperson said: ‘Safety is always our highest priority and we’ve taken the decision to return our Tel Aviv flight to Heathrow.

‘Following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv.

‘We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date.

‘We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.’

The flight left London this morning and was due to arrive in Tel Aviv at 3.05pm.

Until today British Airways was one of a few airlines still operating flights to Israel, with Wizz Air, easyJet and other operators cancelling all flights earlier this week.

Virgin Atlantic is currently still running flights between Heathrow and Tel Aviv.

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This is the terrifying moment a British mum drives through a gun battle as she flees besieged Israel settlement with her family.

Debby Sharon can be seen dodging bullets and speeding past tanks as a fight between the Israel Defense Force and Hamas rages on.

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Ms Sharon and her family had been inside a safehouse for more than 36 hours while their village of Yeted, which is just four kilometres from Gaza, came under attack.

Her husband, daughter, son-in-law, autistic son and three grandchildren under the age of 11 huddled together in one room without power as they were forced to listen to Hamas terrorists invade their kibbutz.

Ms Sharon told MailOnline: ‘It was in those hours that I really understood the mentality my English mother had raised us with after having grown up during World War Two and how she taught us to behave in emergencies.’

She said the scene outside of her window ‘looked apocolyptic’.

‘Nothing could have prepared us for this. The idea of “keeping our chin up” and staying positive in the midst of the chaos and uncertainty, I could see it all taking place in those moments.,’ she said.

‘Trying to keep the kids calm, to stop them screaming, to stop them leaving, all this while we are all together in a safe room which was designed to keep us safe from rockets, not from terrorists, so it didn’t even lock from the inside.’

The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is only expected to escalate as Israel remains determined to crush the militant group.

In Israel, at least 1,200 have been killed, while officials in Gaza say 900 people have been killed.

At least 140 Palestinian children have been killed by the Israeli military as they launched an offensive on Gaza over the weekend, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces vowed to turn the Gaza Strip into ‘rubble’ following the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 and have launched retaliatory strikes in over 200 locations.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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A British holidaymaker has been found dead on a beach in the Algarve.

The 27-year-old man, who has not been named, was found at around 8am today off the coast of Olhao, on the Portuguese Armona Island.

Police, including maritime police, rushed to the scene but were unable to save him.

An investigation into the cause of death has now been launched, but well-placed local sources suggest the victim may have drowned.

An autopsy is expected to be held later today.

Police say there were no visible signs of violence on the man’s body.

His identity was confirmed when his passport was found in a bag close to where his body was found.

A police source said:  ‘At around 8am, an island resident contacted police to report a body was on the beach.

‘A Maritime Police team and Olhao lifeguards went to the scene and found a lifeless man lying on the sand. He was in the fetal position, face down, wearing shorts and bare-chested.

‘The body was still wet although low tide today was around 6.30am which suggested he had been in the water. The body was actually between high tide and low tide lines.

‘No signs of violence were visible, but judicial police were called to the scene to inspect it.

‘They were able to locate the young man’s passport, which was inside a backpack that belonged to him and was close to the scene. He was a British national aged 27.’

Another source close to the case added: ‘According to locals, he was seen the night before having dinner in a restaurant on the island with no sign that he was in trouble or ill.

‘He appeared to be a traveller because of the rucksack he had with him among other things, which was one of those large ones often used by backpackers.

‘Several people were interviewed on the island by police investigators. Everything points to the dead man having gone into the water that night.

‘Only an autopsy will now be able to clarify what happened, whether he was the victim of a sudden illness, or if he hit his head while diving or even if he was surprised by the rising tide while sleeping on the beach.

‘There is nothing at this stage pointing to his death being the result of foul play.’

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Pictures show neighbourhoods in Gaza almost destroyed after Israel launched 250 airstrikes in just one hour.

It comes after an Israeli defense official promise the strip will become a ‘tent city’ with every building to be demolished.

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Images reveal a countless number of homes and vehicles have been reduced to rubble as emergency services continue to dig for survivors.

At least 140 Palestinian children have been killed since Saturday, human rights group Defence for Children International Palestine has confirmed.

More than 200 locations were targeted throughout Gaza, killing more than 700 people and injuring 4,000 more.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said ‘all restraints on fighters have been released’ and promised an intensification of fighting.

‘Hamas wanted a change and it will get one. What was in Gaza will no longer be,’ he said.

‘We started the offensive from the air, later on we will also come from the ground. We’ve been controlling the area since Day Two and we are on the offensive. It will only intensify.

‘Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors — we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise.’

The al-furqan neighbourhood was particularly targeted, with Israeli defense officials claiming it is a ‘nest of terror’.

The area – named after a local mosque – was allegedly used by Hamas to launch the attacks on Israel.

The strikes destroyed the Hamas-linked Islamic university, and hit 80 Hamas targets in the Beit Hanoun area of the northeastern Gaza Strip, including two bank branches used to ‘fund terrorism’.

Israel has also suspended supplies of food, water and electricity and fuel to Palestinians.

The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is only expected to escalate as Israel remains determined to crush the militant group.

In Israel, at least 1,200 have been killed, while officials in Gaza say 900 people have been killed.

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A British woman whose elderly parents were abducted by Hamas has pleaded for their return saying ‘they are not the enemy’.

Sharone Lifschitz, 52, said her mum, 85, and 83-year-old dad were taken hostage from their home in Nir Oz near the Gaza border.

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She said her parents told her they could ‘hear gunfire’ but they ‘felt safe’ on Saturday, but they have not been heard from since.

Mrs Lifschitz late saw a video of a journalist standing directly behind her parents’ house.

The journalist said in Arabic: ‘We have now conquered Nir Oz.’

She said around 90 people from the kibbutz remain missing.

Mrs Lifschitz told MailOnline: ‘My father is 83 and my mother is 85. She needs oxygen and he has a lung disease. They cannot survive on their own in this environment. 

‘What kind of person would do this? In my life I just cannot imagine a type of person that could do this.

‘My father is not the enemy. He spent his retirement driving Palestinians from the border to and from the hospital. He is not the enemy. He believes in humanity in all people.’

Mrs Lifschitz also said her said her father ‘needs medication’ and she is not sure how long ‘he will survive’.

‘My father had many Pelestinian friends, he drove those which were ill because he did not believe they are our enemy, he believed they needed medical treatment,’ she said on Good Morning Britain.

‘He spent hours going to the border and doing his basic duty as a human being.

‘I don’t know if he can survive without his medication.’

She added: ‘The time is short and it is running out – they will not survive. We cannot sit here and talk about who’s done what. Not until we’ve brought them home. 

‘I have no idea why the Israel Defense Force are taking so long to save people, there has been a colossal failure, we have to talk about these hostages and bring them back home.’

The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is only expected to escalate as Israel remains determined to crush the militant group.

In Israel, at least 1,200 have been killed, while officials in Gaza say 900 people have been killed.

At least 140 Palestinian children have been killed by the Israeli military as they launched an offensive on Gaza over the weekend, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces vowed to turn the Gaza Strip into ‘rubble’ following the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 and have launched retaliatory strikes in over 200 locations.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Violence has escalated between Israel and Hamas as a war has seen rockets shower Gaza and other atrocities.

Israeli forces vowed to turn the Gaza Strip into ‘rubble’ following a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 and have launched retaliatory strikes in over 200 locations throughout Gaza, killing more than 700 people and injuring 4,000 more.

So far the conflict has claimed more than 1,700 lives on both sides, with over 187,500 people displaced from the Strip.

Follow our live blog for latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called up 300,000 army reservists and signalled a ground assault against the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.

During a televised address, he vowed to crush Hamas and said Israel’s response would ‘reverberate with their enemies for generations’.

As the conflict continues, many will be wondering about the safety of surrounding countries and whether they can travel to them. Here’s what you need to know.

Is it safe to travel to Lebanon right now?

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) has said tourists should avoid ‘all but essential travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.’

FCDO has additionally advised against travel to:

• Gaza
• the Sheba’a Farms and Ghajjar
• within 500m of the border with Lebanon (the ‘Blue Line’) east of Metula, including the northern edge of the town and within 500m of the border with Syria (the ‘Alpha Line’)
• the area close to the border with Gaza that includes:
  • Southwest of Ashkelon
  • South of route 35 and west of route 40 as far as Tlalim, not including Be’er Sheva
  • West of Be’er Sheva
  • North of route 211

As tensions escalate in the region, British authorities have issued a warning against travelling to Lebanon as violence between Israel and Hamas escalates.

The British Foreign Office has urged Britons to avoid non-essential travel to the country.

Travel to the Hermel Area south of the country including the towns of Arsal, Ras Baalbek, Qaa, Laboue, and Nahle has also been advised against, as well as any Palestinian refugee camps within three miles of the border with Syria.

Is it safe to travel to Egypt right now?

The FCDO has advised against all, or all but essential, travel to some parts of Egypt.

These areas are advised against travelling to altogether:

• Within 20km (12.4 miles) of the Egypt-Libya border, except for the town of El Salloum, where it advises against all but essential travel
• North Sinai
• The northern part of the Governorate of South Sinai, beyond the St Catherine-Nuweibaa road, except for the coastal areas along the west and east of the peninsula
• The eastern part of Ismailiyah Governorate

The following areas, all by essential travel ideas are advised against:

• Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings;
• The Governorate of Faiyum;
• Coastal areas between the Nile Delta and Marsa Matruh
• Marsa Matruh-Siwa Road
• Siwa
• The Giza Governorate north-east of the Bahariya Oasis
• The road between Giza and Farafra
• Bahariya Oasis, Farafra, the White Desert and Black Desert.

Is it safe to travel to Turkey right now?

However, there is currently no advice that tourists should refrain from travelling to Turkey.

President Recap Tayyip Erdogan spoke out against the conflict, saying both Israel and Hamas should ‘refrain from aggressive acts.’

‘We are determined to continue the diplomatic efforts we have started to re-establish calm by intensifying them. We call on all parties with a say in the region to sincerely contribute to peace,’ he added.

‘Lasting regional peace will only be possible by finding a final solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue. In this regard, as we have always underlined, the preservation of the two-state solution perspective is very important.’

Can I get a refund on my trip?

Unless the Foreign Office advises you to cancel your holiday, or it is cancelled by your airline or tour operator there is no guarantee you’ll get your money back if you choose not to travel.

Most insurance policies only pay out due to trip cancellations in certain circumstances such as death, bereavement and extremely long days.

In light of the current circumstances, it is worth checking with your airline or tour provider to see whether they might be able to offer you anything, such as rescheduling the trip, or moving it to a different location.

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MORE : As Hamas attacks escalate, all you need to know about the Iron Dome – the Israeli defence shield

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An elderly couple are suing an art dealer after he allegedly withheld information about their mask before buying it at a knockdown price.

The unnamed couple in their eighties, from Nimes in France, were clearing out their home in 2021 when they decided to sell the ‘Ngil’ African mask.

They sold it to an art dealer, known as Mr Z, for £129 – but he went on to sell the mask just a few months later for £3.6 million at an auction in Montpellier, MailOnline reports.

The couple didn’t find out about the huge sale until they read about it in a newspaper- and they’re now suing Mr Z because they believe he cheated them and purposefully withheld his suspicions over the item’s value.

The item is sourced from the Fang people of Gabon, is used during weddings and funerals.

They’re a rare sight outside of the African country, with only a handful found in museums around the world.

Testing dated the mask to the 19th century and court documents describe the item as ‘exceptional in terms of its rarity’.

The couple came into possession of the mask because the husband’s grandfather was a colonial governor in Africa, according to industry media.

The lawsuit is ongoing, but the court of appeal in Nimes ruled the couple’s case ‘appears to be well-founded in principle’.

It’s been reported the proceeds of the sale have been frozen until the end of the case, and an offer from the dealer to pay the couple just under £260,000 was rejected.

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There are at least 17 dead or missing Brits including children in Israel following the Hamas attack.

This up from the previous estimate of ‘more than 10’, the BBC reports.

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The conflict has had an immediate global impact, with several countries reporting nationals killed, abducted or missing.

Among them are the UK, the US, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand and Ukraine.

Among those killed was 20-year-old Nathanel Young, a Briton serving in the Israeli Defence Services (IDF) who died on the Gaza border on Saturday.

Another includes Bernard Cowan, a Cottish grandfather who settled in the country with his family.

Two other UK nationals – 26-year-old Jake Marlowe, who went to the same school in London as Mr Young, and photographer Dan Darlington – are also believed to be missing.

Since the start of the invasion at least 1,200 have been killed in Israel while officials in Gaza say 900 people have been killed.

At least 140 Palestinian children have been killed by the Israeli military as they launched an offensive on Gaza over the weekend, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Hundreds of Israelis have also been abducted as they attacked towns on Saturday.

The number of displaced people in the Strip has gone up by nearly 100,000 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 260,000, and Unicef has urged for a humanitarian corridor to be established.

At least 30 people were killed overnight in Aaza as Israeli warplanes pounded the strip ahead of a possible ground offensive to root out Hamas fighters.

Israel said dozens of its fighter jets struck more than 200 targets in a neighbourhood of Gaza City that it said had been used by the group to launch its attacks.

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A distraught Israeli mum has revealed she had to listen to Hamas kidnap her young daughter and elderly mum.

Galit Dan, 53, was just five miles away when her terrified daughter, Noya, 12, whispered in a last message: ‘Help me.’

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Noya and her 80-year-old grandmother, Carmela, are believed to have been taken hostage into Gaza.

Galit said how she dropped Noya off for a sleepover at her grandmother’s house just hours before Hamas attacked.

As the invasion began on Saturday morning Galit fled to a fortified panic room with Noya’s stepdad and her other daughter Tomal, nine.

Galit then received a heartbreaking voice message from her daughter: ‘Mummy I’m scared. There are people in the house – help me.’

Nothing has been heard of her or her grandmother since.

They are feared to be among the 150 people taken as hostages to Gaza bunkers, threatened with execution of video by Hamas.

Galit told The Sun: ‘The pain is indescribable. My little girl went for a sleepover with her granny and was messaging us as these animals came for them.

‘Our best hope now is that they have been kidnapped and will somehow survive.

‘I am desperate to see my beautiful daughter home and beg anyone with power to do whatever they can.

‘I am living every parent’s nightmare — every parent in the world will feel our pain.’

Noya’s stepdad, Inon, added Noya has high-functioning autism and is easily distressed by noise.

‘Noya is a very sweet, very funny, very clever little girl — but she is also extremely sensitive because of her autism.,’ he said.

‘It was heartbreaking hearing her last voice message begging for help when we were so powerless and surrounded by men trying to kill us.’

He revealed he could hear Hamas soldiers shout ‘slaughter the Jews’ as the invasion started.

The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is only expected to escalate as Israel remains determined to crush the militant group.

In Israel, at least 1,200 have been killed, while officials in Gaza say 900 people have been killed.

At least 140 Palestinian children have been killed by the Israeli military as they launched an offensive on Gaza over the weekend, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces vowed to turn the Gaza Strip into ‘rubble’ following the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 and have launched retaliatory strikes in over 200 locations.

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