LONDON: A British man who was working as a bouncer at a music festival in Israel is missing following the attack by Hamas on Saturday.
The Israeli Embassy in London said Jake Marlowe, 26, is “missing near Gaza” and has not been heard from since Saturday morning, when the Palestinian militant group launched a series of raids across the south of the country.
An embassy spokesperson said: “He is missing, we don’t know for sure that he is taken hostage or dead or in a hospital.”
The festival near the village of Kibbutz Re’im was abandoned by thousands of people after gunmen attacked, with several people dead and numerous others abducted and reportedly taken to Gaza.
Marlowe’s mother Lisa told Jewish News: “He was doing security at this rave and called me at 4.30 a.m. to say all these rockets were flying over.
“Then, at about 5.30 a.m., he texted to say, ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,’ and that he loves me.”
Marlowe has lived in Israel for two years, residing in the city of Ma’alot.
The Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely told Sky News that a British citizen is among those to have been taken to Gaza, but this has not been officially confirmed.
“I know that Israel is doing everything to make sure all the people being kept hostage at the moment in the hands of Hamas will be released,” she said.
