British teen sisters, 13 and 16, missing in Israel after Hamas attacks

16 October 2023 , 17:18

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A deserted house at kibbutz Be'eri that was attacked near the border with Gaza (Image: Getty Images)

Two British teenage sisters are among those missing and potentially feared dead after last weekend's Hamas attack on Israel.

The family of Noiya, 13, and Yahel, 16, believe they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri, and taken across the border into Gaza. It was confirmed that their mother Lianne, who is British and born in Bristol, was murdered in the 7 October attack. The family has not released the girls' surname. The war has already claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides and sent tensions soaring across the region. Israel has bombarded Gaza round-the-clock since a weekend attack in which Hamas fighters stormed into the country’s south and massacred hundreds, including children in their homes and young people at a music festival.

Destroyed houses at a kibbutz in Be'eri, Israel (Getty Images)

Kibbutz Be'eri was one of the hardest-hit Israeli border communities in the Hamas assault on Israel. At least 112 people are dead and multiple others are thought to be in Gaza as prisoners of Hamas. President Isaac Herzog visited the Kibbutz on Sunday and said the "land is saturated with blood." He continued: "There was life here, there was a paradise here that turned into hell. We have a moral and national duty to return it to being a paradise. This is a tremendous duty. A duty to their memory, a duty to the families, a duty to, as much as possible, bring home the abductees."

Hamas burned down houses where the people in the sheltered area wouldn’t come out. Photos show several homes with charred exteriors and others have whole portions missing, blown up either by the attackers or by Israeli troops in exchanges of fire with Hamas holed up inside.

One survivor, Haim Jelin, told local media that Hamas fighters "walked around Be'eri like they owned the place." He said: "They shot indiscriminately, abducted whoever they could, burned down people's homes so they'd have to escape through the window, where the terrorists would wait."

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