Horrified rescuers find 260 bodies at Israel music festival after Hamas terrorists 'cut power and started opening fire'

HORRIFIED rescuers found 260 bodies at a music festival in Israel after witnesses said Hamas terrorists cut the power and opened fire.

More than 1,100 people in Israel and Gaza have been killed since a Palestinian militant group crossed the border on Saturday – sparking an unprecedented massacre of civilians.

Revelers flee festival in southern Israel after Hamas launches savage attackCredit: TWITTER

Shocking drone footage shows the aftermath of the attack on the festival in which 260 people died Credit: Telegram

Briton Jake Marlowe has been reported missing

Hamas militants mutilated and exposed the body of a Shani Louk festival goerCredit: shanukkk/Instagram

Footage from the Sukkot festival in southern Israel shows terrified revelers running away from Hamas terroristsCredit: Twitter

Israel has brought in special forces and stepped up airstrikes on the Gaza StripCredit: Reuters

Some Hamas militants flew into Israel on kites Credit: Twitter

Israel is now massing tanks and troops on the border with Gaza – in preparation for what could be a bloody ground offensive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reduce the area to “rubble” as he destroys Hamas strongholds in revenge for the terrorist bloodbath dubbed “Israel’s 9/11”.

Israel brought in special forces and stepped up its bombardment of the Gaza Strip as airstrikes hit more than 500 targets belonging to Hamas terrorists overnight.

So far, at least 700 people have been killed in Israel, while more than 400 have been confirmed dead in Gaza – with the death toll expected to rise on both sides.

The US is moving the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier closer to Israel as Joe Biden pledged Washington’s “firm” support for Tel Aviv.

US officials expect Israeli troops to begin a ground invasion of Gaza within the next 48 hours.

Israel’s Zaka rescue service said its paramedics had pulled about 260 bodies from the Sukkot music festival in southern Israel.

Shocking footage shows terrified ravers fleeing the venue – many are still missing, including Briton Jake Marlowe.

Veselik Ortel told local media: “They turned off the electricity.

“Suddenly, out of nowhere, militants burst in with gunfire, opening fire in all directions. Fifty terrorists arrived in vans, dressed in military uniforms.

“They fired bursts and we reached a moment when everyone stopped their vehicles and started to run away.

“I went into a tree, a bush like this, and they started spraying people.

“I saw a bunch of wounded people thrown around and I’m up in a tree trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Festival goer Adam Barel told Haaretz: “People were hit. We hid. Everyone fled somewhere else.”

It comes as…

More than 1,100 are confirmed dead in Israel and Gaza, with thousands injured
Hamas terrorists launched an all-out attack on Israel from land, air and sea with 5,000 rockets fired
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that 378 people had died in the violence that followed Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Gaza will be “turned into ruins”
There have been reports of kidnapped Israeli soldiers parading in military vehicles
British citizen Jake Marlowe was reported missing after attending a music festival in southern Israel
Netanyahu mobilized the country’s military reserves after his declaration of war
Attack dubbed “Israel’s 9/11” after “shameful intelligence failure”

More than 250 people were killed by rockets and paragliders.

About 750 have been reported missing and are almost certainly being held in bombed bunkers in the Hamas base in Gaza.

One woman, Noa Argamani, 25, was filmed screaming: “Don’t kill me! No, no, no,” as she was grabbed by an armed man on a motorcycle.

Later, pictures of her alive in custody appeared.

In a brave TV interview, her father said: “There are victims in Gaza too, crying mothers.

“Let’s use this emotion. We are two nations from one father – let’s make peace, real peace.”

More than 100 Israeli hostages, including women and children, were able to be taken by Hamas to Gaza – greatly complicating any attempt to free them.

It comes after the Palestinian health ministry said 413 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes following a surprise attack by Hamas.

The vast majority were in the Gaza Strip, where 2,200 were also wounded.

Footage seen by The Sun shows young children among the dead in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

Are you in the region? Email Imogen Braddick: [email protected]

Friends of a Briton who is still missing after a terrorist attack on a festival fear he may have sacrificed his life to save others.

Jake Marlowe, 26, was working as a security guard at a desert rave when militants launched a devastating rocket attack followed by a ground attack.

Another Briton, photographer Dan Darlington, who was visiting from his home in Berlin, Germany, is also missing, according to his father David, the BBC reports.

Friends of Arsenal fan Jake said his first instinct would have been to make sure everyone else was safe before he thought of himself.

Family and friends are waiting by the phone desperately for good news as it emerged that a British soldier who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was among as many as 700 killed.

Nathanel Young, 20, from London, served as a corporal in the IDF.

His family said on Facebook: “We are heartbroken to say that our little brother was tragically killed on the Gaza border yesterday.”

Meanwhile, German tattoo artist Shani Louk, 30, was seized from a peace music festival and killed.

Shocking footage showed Hamas terrorists parading her body through the streets.

Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Gaza in revenge – by cutting off food, electricity and water to the area’s 600,000 residents.

Israel has also launched tank and drone strikes against Lebanon amid fears of an invasion by its enemy Hezbollah, which has been firing mortars from the north.

Netanyahu said: “All the places where Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in that wicked city, we will turn them into ruins.

“I say to the people of Gaza: Leave now because we will use force everywhere.”

There is currently no way for people in Gaza to leave the city, which has been under Israeli blockade for more than a decade.

Airstrikes have displaced 123,000 Palestinians, and nearly 74,000 have now taken refuge in schools, the UN said.

The US is moving its aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, closer to Israel as Biden pledged Washington’s “strong” support for Tel Aviv.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the attacks may have been aimed at disrupting US-brokered talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia to restore normal diplomatic relations.