Israel hit Gaza with airstrikes, targeting hundreds of targets in an area that the Israel Defense Forces said serves as a hub for the Hamas terrorist organization.

The strikes are in retaliation for the surprise attacks from Hamas over the weekend.

One of the first targets of the Palestinian gunmen was the Nova Music Festival on the Israel-Gaza border.

Michal Ohana, who attended the festival, was shot but survived the ordeal.

“I lied under the tank because they surrounded us from every direction because they saw the people on the tank and the more of us there were, it was getting worse because a large group, they could just shoot at us,” Ohana said.

Hundreds of others who attended the festival were murdered in the attacks.

Some survivors are among more than 100 hostages that the group claims to be holding in Gaza. For one American hopeful, Nahal Neta, his mother is one of them.

“It is our hope, which is a little bit ridiculous, at this stage to say that the optimistic scenario here is that she’s held hostage in Gaza and not dead on the street of the kibbutz where we grew up,” Neta said.

Tanks are on the move in southern Israel.

There have been Hamas missile attacks on several cities, including Tel Aviv.

The sound of warning sirens can be heard there and in the holy city of Jerusalem, filling residents with fear.

“I am living this with concern and uncertainty because we do not know what is going to happen or how this situation is going to evolve,” said Father Juan Antonio Ruiz, the director of the Spanish Biblical Institute in Jerusalem. “The atmosphere is very tense and we can see that this situation is getting more and more complicated.”

There have been questions about whether or not Iran helped plan the attack.

The country’s leader denied any involvement on Tuesday, Oct. 10, but said he supports it. 

“We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.

The comment doesn’t come as a surprise for some. 

The region has always been turbulent politically, but for decades the Vatican has tried to negotiate peace. 

Pope Pius XII tried to get a legal safeguard for the status of the Holy Land after the war began in 1948. He published three documents asking for peace and aid for refugees.

Pope Paul VI was the first pope to visit the Holy Land in 1964. While he was there he advocated for Palestinians during the pilgrimage.

Pope John Paul II spoke with the president of Palestine then, and a few years later an agreement was reached between the Vatican and the Palestinian national authority. 

Pope Benedict XVI organized a synod in the Holy Land, which focused on stopping the use of the word of God to justify terrorism.

Pope Francis also held a historic meeting with both leaders in 2014 to pray for peace. If you want to help the innocent victims on both sides of the violence you can donate to the international Red Cross at ICRC.ORG and click donate now.

The sound of warning sirens are no longer only heard in southern Israel, on the border of Gaza. Now, they have also reached the capital, the Holy City, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Danger is on the rise throughout the entire country and many local residents and tourists are filled with fear.

“I am living this with concern and uncertainty because we do not know what is going to happen or how this situation is going to evolve,” Father Juan Antonio Ruiz, the Director of the Spanish Biblical Institute in Jerusalem, said. “The atmosphere is very tense and we can see that this situation is getting more and more complicated. Just now, while I was connecting for the interview, the anti-aircraft alarms were heard again and this is really worrying.”

Hours before, Father Ruiz had to leave his home in Jerusalem and stay with groups of religious and pilgrims. He explained what it is like to deal with the climate of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, not only in recent days, but for years.

“The Bible Institute, known as the House of St. James, is in East Jerusalem, on the other side of the Mount of Olives, and it is very close to the wall, which separates Israel from Palestine,” Father Ruiz said. “So, there has been a bombardment of stones. That’s what they usually do, in moments of great excitement and tension, the Palestinians throw stones from the other side of the wall and, well, until they become very big stones, very thick. And they also start burning cars and car tires. In short, it always creates a very tense situation.”

Father Ruiz pointed out that the pilgrims who were caught in the escalation of the conflict were very frightened. The authorities in their countries asked them to stay in their hotels. Many took the opportunity to pray for peace.

“Just now, they were leaving and I went to see them off and to cheer them up a bit because they were very discouraged,” Father Ruiz said. “Two days in a hotel, they told me: ‘We are living this with great concern.’ They say: ‘What was a pilgrimage has turned into a retreat because the two days spent in a hotel have been used to pray, to show the Blessed Sacrament, to pray, because it is very good to pray for peace at this moment.’”

The Holy Land is one of the most important places for Christians. Between pilgrims and tourists, this area has reached record numbers, such as in 2019, when it welcomed 5 million people in one year.

The unspeakable anguish of a father describing the moment he saw a video posted on social media of his daughter pleading for her life. 

“It was Noa frightened and threatened,” Yakov Argamani, Father of captured hostage Noa Argamani said. “You don’t want to believe it even though you can clearly see it’s your daughter.”

He now wants this video to be seen widely.

Noa, 25, could be seen on the back of a motorcycle being driven away by Hamas terrorists.

Her boyfriend, Avi Natan, was also taken by the group.

They had been among the more than 1000 people partying at an all-night music festival in southern Israel near the Gaza border when it was raided by armed Hamas militants early on Saturday morning.

Her father says Noa and Natan were kidnapped, their whereabouts unknown but are assumed to be held in Gaza.

“I’m so sad at this moment,” Yakov said. “She’s my only daughter.”

Yakov’s pain is mirrored by so many others. 

Parents, family members, wives, husbands filled with horror and despair thinking about the fate of their loved ones.

In one video that’s been circulating widely online, a woman is seen in the back of a truck as a militant puts a scarf over her head. 

Currents News has not been able to independently verify it.

Yoni Asher, a resident of the Sharon region, says his wife and two daughters aged five and three were visiting their grandmother near the Gaza border.

He lost contact with them on Saturday morning and suspected they may have been abducted.

Later that day, his suspicions confirmed when he saw this video, the woman was his wife. 

He said he wants the video to be shown in the hopes of getting them home safely. 

“There was no doubt in my mind, I recognized them,” Asher said. “Surely my wife, my two daughters, my two little daughters that were on this cart. So I know for sure that they were taken.”

The Israeli army has not been able to establish the exact number of hostages taken.

So far, they estimate there are dozens, possibly more in captivity. 

Yakov has a message to whoever is holding his daughter.

“You have casualties just like we do,” he said. “This is an opportunity to connect between the two nations to reach an honest peace.”

If you want to help the victims on both sides of the violence, you can donate to the international red cross at icrc.org and click donate now.