Terrified festivalgoer is stripped and beaten as he’s driven to Gaza by Hamas abductors – who are now denying him vital medication prompting plea by his family
Harrowing footage shows the moment a terrified festivalgoer is stripped and beaten by Hamas, as he’s driven to Gaza following the Israeli festival massacre.
Omer Wenkert, 22, a restaurant manager from Israel, was among the crowd at the Tribe of Nova festival in Re’im when Hamas gunmen stormed the site and opened fire, killing at least 260 people.
And disturbing video shows him being beaten and punched by terrorists as he’s kidnapped and driven away on the back of a white pickup truck.
As Hamas terrorists surround him, Omer can be seen laying naked in his underwear, as men with machine guns slap his body.
Omer, still alive, can be seen turning his head towards the camera in desperation as the truck drives off into the distance.
Ricardo Grichener, Omer’s uncle has now issued a desperate plea, after discovering his nephew was still alive after arriving in Gaza.
Harrowing footage shows the moment a terrified festivalgoer is stripped and beaten by Hamas, as he’s driven to Gaza following the Israeli festival massacre
A photo of Omer shows he was still alive after arriving in Gaza
Omer Wenkert, 22, a restaurant manager from Israel, was among the crowd at the Tribe of Nova festival in Re’im when Hamas gunmen stormed the site and opened fire, killing at least 260 people
‘We found traces of him and already one photo in Gaza’, he told MailOnline.
Mr Grichener explained how his nephew suffers from colitis and ‘cannot survive’ without his medication.
‘Hamas have refused to allow red cross to give him medication. It is a crime against humanity’, he said.
Mr Grichener added: ‘It’s horrific. Hamas are responsible for his well-being. They must be smart enough to give him his medication.
‘The situation is brutal and it is horrifying to see my nephew in this situation.
‘But last we know of him, he was alive, and we will continue to pray for his safe return until he comes home’.
Mr Grichener said that Omer was last in touch on Saturday morning.
‘He called his parents at 7am in the morning telling them he heard shooting. 30 minutes later the communication was lost.
‘So we knew something terrible happened. We tried to track his location but we couldn’t. Later that day we found a video of his kidnapping.’
Omer requires medication for his colitis, without which he ‘will not survive’, his uncle said
The Israeli rescue service Zaka said at least 260 bodies have been removed from the festival site. Pictured: Partygoers fleeing the festival scene on Saturday
At least 260 people were killed at the festival in southern Israel on Saturday.
Countless more were injured in attacks as armed Hamas militants swept through.
Some 3,500 people had reportedly been at the festival, though reports vary.
Gunmen infiltrated the festival in vans while others descended from motorised paragliders.
Hamas took an unknown number of hostages from the festival.
Fears have grown for the safety of British national Jake Marlowe, 26, missing since Saturday.
READ MORE: Haunting images reveal chilling aftermath of Nova music festival where 260 people were slaughtered, after volunteers removed hundreds of bodies
He was working at the Supernova Festival, near the Gaza Strip, when Palestinian militants stormed onto the site at the crack of dawn, firing rockets and sending in terrorists armed with guns to attack.
More than 100 people have been taken hostage since the incursion began on Saturday.
Thomas Helm, Jerusalem Correspondent for The National, told MailOnline on Saturday locals had been expecting a rocket attack, but were stunned by the nature of the full assault.
‘What’s so shocking about this one is the creativity. People were planning for a large rocket barrage. That’s what we have been worrying about for a long time. But for people to be flying in on hang-gliders, it’s unreal,’ he said.
‘What it does more than anything else is shatters this sense that Israel… whenever you speak to an Israeli General they’re obsessed with deterrence. And they worry that their deterrence has been diminished in recent months. But this shatters it.’
Israel has responded with devastating airstrikes in the last few days and announced it would push through a ‘complete siege’ of Gaza, affecting 2.3million people living on the Strip.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said: ‘There will be no electricity, food or fuel [delivered to Gaza].
‘We are fighting barbaric [terrorists] and will respond accordingly.’
Some 300,000 reservists have been called up as Israel gathers momentum.
With the siege, the country is now ‘trying to prepare their backers’ for the possibility that ‘this is going to be a long war’, Helm told MailOnline this evening.
Hamas fighters circumvented Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip by flying in via paraglider, according to the Israeli military (pictured: an alleged paraglider crossing into Israel)
The aftermath of an attack on a music festival by Palestinian militants, near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel on October 8
Hamas has responded to mounting airstrikes by threatening to execute its hostages and share evidence online.
Qatar has since sought to mediate de-escalation talks with Israel and Hamas, aiming to secure a deal whereby both sides release captives.
The ongoing negotiations, which Qatar has been conducting in coordination with the United States since Saturday night, are ‘moving positively’ a source told Reuters earlier today.
‘We are in constant contact with all sides at the moment. Our priorities are to end the bloodshed, release the prisoners and make sure the conflict is contained with no regional spillover,’ foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said.
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