At least 11 US citizens were among those killed in the Hamas onslaught on Israel at the weekend, Joe Biden said on Monday, as the death toll in Israel rose above 800.
As it became clear that the dead included people from different backgrounds and originally from countries other than Israel, the BBC reported that at least 10 British citizens were dead or missing. France confirmed the deaths of two of its citizens, and there were reports that as many as nine French people were missing, dead or taken hostage. German citizens are also thought to have been killed or kidnapped.
In a statement, Biden said US officials believed it likely that American citizens were among those being held hostage by Hamas.
“It’s heart-wrenching. These families have been torn apart by inexcusable hatred and violence,” he said. “My heart goes out to every family impacted by the horrible events of the past few days. The pain these families have endured, the enormity of their loss, and the agony of those still awaiting information is unfathomable.”
The US president said Washington was working with Israel to obtain more information on the location of US citizens who are still unaccounted for.
The BBC said it had been told by an official source that more than 10 British citizens were feared dead or missing. One was Nathanel Young, 20, who was serving in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Young was a former pupil of JFS, a Jewish school in north London.
The family of Dan Darlington, a photographer, believed him to be dead, the Mirror reported.
Another Briton, Jake Marlowe, who was working as a security guard at the music festival attacked by Hamas militants, has been reported missing.
Argentina’s consul general confirmed that seven of the country’s citizens had been killed in the attack, and 15 were missing.
The victims included Rodolfo Fabián Skariszewski, 56, from Córdoba in Argentina, was reportedly killed in Ohad, a moshav near the Gaza Strip, while walking his dog on Saturday morning.
Abi Korin, who lived at the Holit kibbutz near Gaza, was also killed, according to the country’s Jewish News Agency.
Two Brazilians were also missing.
Israel’s population has a high proportion of people who have “made aliyah”, the term used for Jews who have chosen to make the country their home.
The dead also included 12 Thai workers employed on farms near the Gaza border. A further 11 Thais were believed to have been abducted by Hamas militants, and eight were injured.
According to Thailand’s labour minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, about 5,000 Thai labourers work in the area where fighting has been taking place.
One Thai worker told the BBC: “I was running and crawling underneath a truck then the Hamas pulled me out and pointed the gun at me at point blank before firing to the ground.” The worker, who declined to be named, managed to escape.
Nepal said 10 of its citizens had been killed.
Seven Filipinos remained unaccounted for on Monday, the Philippines foreign affairs department said.
More than 50 countries are thought to have citizens working inside Israel, many in agriculture and as cleaners and carers.
As Israeli security forces battled to regain control of communities and towns in the south of the country, the number of deaths rose. People were discovered to have been killed in their homes and cars, and on the streets.
An account by Reut Karp about the murder of her children’s father, Dvir Karp, in the Re’im kibbutz was posted on Facebook. At 8.20am on Sunday, “terrorists entered Dvir’s house. He threw an axe at them,” she said.
Dvir Karp had tried to protect the children, but he was killed in front of them, she wrote. His girlfriend “also tried, but they killed her too”.
Mor Bayder said her grandmother had been killed in the Nir Oz kibbutz. “A terrorist broke into her home, murdered her, took her phone, photographed the horror, and posted it on her Facebook account. That’s how we found out.”
Hannah Ben-Artzi, 69, was killed in Kfar Aviv by a rocket while trying to open a public shelter for people without access to shelters in their homes.
The dead also included emergency service workers, police officers and members of the IDF. Most young Israelis are required to serve in the armed forces for two or three years after leaving school. Many of the dead IDF members are aged between 18 and 23.
Ten Bedouin Israelis, including six children, were also among the dead.
