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Friend of missing Brit, 26, in Israel says he is ‘completely lost’ after friend's disappearance in festival attack
8 October 2023, 10:53 | Updated: 9 October 2023, 08:26
David Lammy and friend of missing Briton in Israel
The friend of a British citizen who has disappeared after a Hamas attack on an Israeli music festival says his family hasn't heard from him since the strikes began.
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Jake Marlowe, 26, has not been heard from since Saturday morning and has gone "missing near Gaza" after an attack from Hamas on a festival in Israel.
It comes after Israel’s Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Saturday after Hamas militant group launched a surprise attack from Gaza which saw gunmen take both civilian and military hostages.
A dance music festival in southern Israel was among those to be hit in the attacks, as Hamas gunmen paraglided across the border and opened fire on the site full of hundreds of young people.
Jake’s friend Daniel Aboudy told LBC that he feels “completely lost” after finding out his friend was missing in Israel.
Speaking to David Lammy, Mr Aboudy said: “That’s my best friend, that’s my brother. I’ve known him for what would nearly be 25 years, we’ve grown up together, we went to nursery, primary and secondary school together.”
Read more: Met Police step up patrols in London amid reports of people ‘glorifying' attacks on Israel by Hamas
Jake had been living in Israel for two years, according to his friend, and was working with security at a rave in the Israeli desert.
He continued: “For this to all have happened so suddenly and the breaking of the border and the entry into this festival…it’s just incredibly jarring that we haven’t been able to have contact with him since yesterday morning.”
Jake attended JFS in north London before moving to Israel some two years ago, his friend said.
The Israeli Embassy in the UK confirmed Jake was missing on Sunday but said they were unable to confirm whether he had been taken hostage.
Mr Aboudy continued: “It’s a feeling of complete anxiety and stress and really the unknown is such a deep factor, once you have somebody go into the unknown, you freak out and you worry for your own life and loved ones.
“I feel completely lost, I feel that I have a million questions unanswered. Why is the biggest question of all, why him?”
“These are people who just went innocently to have their fun."
Jake’s mother, Lisa, told the Jewish News that her son said he was working security at a rave but has not heard from him since 5:30am on Saturday morning.
"He was doing security at this rave yesterday and called me at 4.30am to say all these rockets were flying over,” she told the outlet.
“Then, at about 5.30am, he texted to say, 'signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,' and that he loves me."
It comes after footage shared online of the festival showed hundreds of young people fleeing the desert event after receiving a rocket alert warning.
More than 500 Israelis have reportedly been killed since the Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, and more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israel's retaliatory airstrikes.
