British children among 17 missing or dead in Israel as death toll rises to 1,200

British children are among the 17 people who are now thought to have been either taken hostage or killed by members of Hamas who infiltrated Israel, it has been claimed.

Of the 17 – which sources say “could eventually rise” – only the names of four have been identified: Corporal Nathanel Young, 20, photographer Dan Darlington who was visiting from Germany where he lives, Jake Marlowe from London, who was reportedly taken captive by Hamas while working as security at a music festival in southern Israel, and Scot Bernard Cowan.

The former has been confirmed dead by his family, who posted on Facebook that they were “heartbroken”, while the latter was also confirmed to have died.

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The death toll in Israel has now reached around 1,200, with 900 confirmed as killed in Gaza. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who is Jewish, told Sky News today: “People who are saying there is some sort of equivalence between the two (Hamas terrorists and Israel's response) are, I think, entirely wrong.

“When you have terrorists who go out and slaughter festival-goers and murder babies that is entirely different from going after Hamas terrorists. The point I’m trying to make is the objective of the Hamas terrorists was to go after innocent civilians, and that is what they have done in their hundreds, even thousands.

“That’s not the objective of Israel, which is specifically trying to go after the terrorists. We know in war there can be damage beyond the terrorists, but that is not their objective, which is why I say there is no equivalence between the two.”

Official Government advice to Brits is to not travel to Israel or the Palestinian Territories unless “essential”, while the Rafah crossing area of Egypt has also been added to the list of areas not to travel to.

The list of places Brits are being told not to go to at all, in full, is:

• Gaza

• The Sheba’a Farms and Ghajjar

• Within 500m of the border with Lebanon (the ‘Blue Line’) east of Metula, including the northern edge of the town and within 500m of the border with Syria (the ‘Alpha Line’)

Also included is the area close to the border with Gaza:

• Southwest of Ashkelon

• South of route 35 and west of route 40 as far as Tlalim, not including Be’er Sheva

• West of Be’er Sheva

• North of route 211

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