Dozens of people are believed to have been captured in Israel by Hamas fighters over the weekend, including revellers at a music festival, residents in border communities and Israeli soldiers.

In one video that went viral, an Israeli woman and her boyfriend – identified as Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or – were shown being kidnapped from the music festival.

In it, Argamani screams, "Don't kill me. No, no, no," as she is hoisted onto the back of a motorcycle and driven away. Or was apprehended and made to walk with his hands behind his back. CNN could not independently verify the video.

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"It's very difficult when you see someone that is so close to you and you know so much being treated like this," Amir Moadi, a roommate of Noa Argamani, told CNN, adding that he knew about five or six people who had been at the festival and have since gone missing.

The hostages are being held by Hamas in locations across Gaza, complicating Israel's response to the militant group's deadly attack on Saturday.

Israel is taking pains to establish the exact number of hostages that have been taken into Gaza, an isolated coastal enclave of almost 2 million people crammed into 360 square kilometres, one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the military's international spokesperson, told CNN on Sunday that "dozens" had been captured and emphasised just how complex the situation was as the army launched air strikes on Gaza in retaliation. In an earlier briefing he had said "civilians, children and grandmothers" were among those being held captive.

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In addition to Israeli captives, there are several other nationalities believed to be taken hostage. Two Mexican nationals, a woman and a man, have "presumably" been taken hostage by Hamas, Mexico's Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said on Sunday. At least three Brazilian nationals are also missing, according Brazilian authorities.

Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has warned that Israeli attacks in the area could impact hostages, with its spokesman, Abu Obaida, saying in a recorded audio message Saturday that they were "present in all axes in the Gaza Strip."

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "it is unprecedented in our history that we have so many Israeli nationals in the hands of a terrorist organization."

It has been more than 17 years since an Israeli soldier was taken as a prisoner of war in an assault on Israeli territory. And Israel has not seen this kind of infiltration of military bases, towns and kibbutzim since town-by-town fighting in the 1948 war of independence.

Here's what we know about some of the hostages taken by Hamas.

Music festival

Hundreds of attendees at the Nova music festival ran across the plains of the Negev Desert near Urim, a community close to the Gaza Strip, trying to escape Hamas gunmen pursuing them in vehicles in a terrifying chase. Some were killed and others were seized by armed captors, social media videos showed.

Details of hostages from the attack are beginning to emerge as family members recognise relatives in the clips circulating online.

In addition to the viral video of Israeli couple Argamani and Or, a second video from the festival shows an unconscious woman being displayed by armed militants in Gaza as onlookers shouted "Allahu Akbar."

CNN later confirmed the identity of the woman as German-Israeli national Shani Louk.

Her cousin confirmed to the Washington Post that Louk attended the music festival.

CNN does not know Louk's whereabouts or condition at this time. CNN is not airing the video because it is graphic and disturbing.

"We recognised her by the tattoos, and she has long dreadlocks," Louk's cousin told the Washington Post. "We have some kind of hope… Hamas is responsible for her and the others."

Israeli border communities

Hamas fighters took hostages in the border community Be'eri, and the town of Ofakim, 20 miles east of Gaza, IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said on Saturday, adding that the two locations were the "main focal points" of the unfolding crisis.

In a televised address, he said that there were special forces with senior commanders in the two communities, and fighting was ongoing in 22 locations.

One video, geolocated by CNN to Be'eri, appears to show Hamas militants taking multiple Israelis captive.

Residents in Be'eri and another community on Israel's border with Gaza, Nir Oz, told the country's Channel 12 television station that assailants were going door to door, trying to break into their homes.

Channel 12 also reported that infiltrators had taken hostages in Netiv HaAsara. Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm any details about those reports.

One Israeli mother told CNN she had been on the phone with her children, aged 16 and 12, who were home alone when they heard gunshots outside and people trying to enter. Then, over the phone, she heard the door break down.

"I heard terrorists speaking in Arabic to my teenagers. And the youngest saying to them 'I'm too young to go,'" the mother said. "And the phone went off, the line went off. That was the last time I heard from them." CNN is not identifying the mother and her children for safety reasons.

Another Israeli father told CNN he suspects his wife and young daughters may have been abducted while visiting Nir Oz. He said he recognized his wife in a viral video that shows a group of people being loaded on the back of a truck flanked by Hamas militants, while chants of "Allahu Akbar" ring out.

"I don't even know what the situation is regarding the hostages, and the situation is not looking good," Yoni Asher said, adding that he tracked his wife's phone and learned that it was located in Gaza.

In another video, geolocated by CNN to Gaza's Shejaiya neighborhood, a barefoot woman is pulled from the trunk of a Jeep by a gunman and then forced into the backseat of the car. Her face is bleeding, and her wrists appear to be cable-tied behind her back. The jeep also appears to have an IDF license plate, suggesting it may have been stolen and brought into Gaza.

Soldiers

Al Qassam Brigades claimed to capture "dozens" of Israeli soldiers on Saturday.

"We bring good news to our (Palestinian) prisoners and our people that the al Qassam Brigades have dozens of captured (Israeli) officers and soldiers in their hands," the group's spokesman Abu Obaida said in a post on Telegram. "They have been secured in safe places and resistance tunnels."

Video geolocated and authenticated by CNN shows at least one Israeli soldier being taken prisoner.

The video, posted to Hamas' official social media accounts, shows militants yank two clearly terrified and stunned soldiers out of a disabled tank. It's unclear from the video how the tank was disabled, but Hamas has used drones to drop bombs onto Israeli tanks before.

One of the soldiers is then seen in a short snippet of video being kicked on the ground by the militants. In the next clip, the soldier is seen lying motionless on the ground.

The second soldier is seen being led away by Hamas militants. A third soldier – his face very bloody – is seen lying on the ground motionless near the tank track. CNN does not know the current whereabouts or status of the three soldiers.

A second video, taken afterward, shows a number of different armed men around the tank. The three soldiers are nowhere to be seen.

The armed men are then seen pulling a fourth Israeli soldier from the tank. The soldier is motionless as he's dragged down the side of the tank and onto the ground. The armed men are seen stomping on his body.

Israel-Hamas war: What we know so far

• Hamas militants crossed into Israel by land, sea and air in the early hours of Saturday morning. The militants infiltrated 22 towns and army bases. Civilians and soldiers were killed and taken hostage. 
• At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel.
• Israel formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday and have been pounding Gaza with airstrikes. 
• More than 400 Palestinians have reportedly died. Hamas has fired over 4000 rockets into Israel.
• The Wall Street Journal today reported Iran helped Palestinian militants plan their shock assault. The US has ordered a large carrier strike force sail to the eastern Med.

Israeli soldiers have battled Hamas fighters in the streets of Israel's south on Sunday and exchanged strikes with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group in the north, while Israel's retaliation strikes levelled buildings in Gaza. The prospect of Hezbollah joining the fighting a day after an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza raised the chances of a broader conflict.

Hamas fighters, backed by a volley of thousands of rockets, broke through barricades around Gaza early Saturday to rampage through nearby communities in Israel. They took captives back into the coastal enclave, including women, children and the elderly, while Israel's retaliation strikes levelled buildings in Gaza and its prime minister said the country was at war. Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 300 people were killed, including 26 soldiers.

READ MORE: Israelis are stunned and shaken by unprecedented Hamas attack

Civilians paid a staggering cost on both sides. More than 300 people have been killed in Gaza, while residents fled homes near the border to escape Israeli strikes, heading deeper inside the territory after warnings from the Israeli military. In Israel, TV news aired a stream of accounts from the relatives of captive or missing Israelis, who wailed and begged for assistance amid uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.

Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that "hundreds of terrorists" have been killed and dozens captured.

Previous conflicts between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers brought widespread destruction in Gaza and days of rocket fire on Israeli towns. The situation is potentially more volatile now, with Israel's far-right government stung by the security breach and Palestinians in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza.

The flare-up on Israel's northern border also threatened to draw into the battle Hezbollah, a fierce enemy of Israel's which is backed by Iran and estimated to have tens of thousands of rockets at its disposal. Hezbollah struck Israeli positions in a disputed area along the border with Syria's Golan Heights, and Israel's military responded with armed drone strikes on Hezbollah targets in a disputed area where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet.

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In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen used explosives to break through the border fence enclosing Gaza, then crossed with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and speed boats on the coast. They rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip early on Saturday morning, including towns and other communities as far as 24 kilometres from the Gaza border, while Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israeli cities.

"Israel is waking up this morning to a terrible morning," said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman. "There are a lot of people killed… children, grandmothers, families, bodies."

On Sunday, the Israeli military said its forces were fighting Hamas incursions in eight places. An Israeli military spokesperson said that two hostage situations had been "resolved", but did not say whether all the hostages had been rescued alive.

Israel struck 426 targets in Gaza, its military said, flattening residential buildings in giant explosions. That included a 14-storey tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City. Israeli forces fired a warning just before.

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Among the 313 killed in Gaza were 20 children, and close to 2000 wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinians, said more than 20,000 Palestinians left Gaza's border region to head further inside the territory and take refuge in UN schools.

Israeli media said at least 300 people were killed and 1500 wounded in Saturday's attack, making it the deadliest in Israel in decades. Hamas fighters took an unknown number of civilians and soldiers captive into Gaza and a line of Israelis with missing relatives snaked outside a police station in central Israel to supply investigators with DNA samples and other means that could help identify their family members.

Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets and shells on Sunday at three Israeli positions in the disputed area and Israel's military fired back using armed drones at the Lebanese areas.

Israel and Hezbollah are archenemies and have fought several wars in the past, the most recent a 34-day conflict in 2006 that left 1200 dead in Lebanon and 160 in Israeli. Tensions have been simmering along Israel's northern border for months.

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In a televised address on Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military will use all of its strength to destroy Hamas' capabilities. "All the places that Hamas hides in, operates from, we will turn them into ruins," he added.

"Get out of there now," he told Gaza residents, who have no way to leave the tiny, overcrowded Mediterranean territory. Gaza's 2.3 million people have endured a border blockade, enforced to varying degrees by Israel and Egypt, since Hamas militants seized control in 2007.

In Gaza, much of the population was thrown into darkness Saturday night as Israel cut off electricity. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israel would stop supplying electricity, fuel and goods to Gaza.

Before daybreak Sunday, militants fired more rockets from Gaza, hitting a hospital in the Israeli coastal town of Ashkelon, said senior hospital official Tal Bergman. Video provided by Barzilai Medical Center showed a large hole punched into a wall and chunks of debris scattered on the ground of what appeared to be an empty room and a hallway. The military said patients had been evacuated from Barzilai before the strike.

School was canceled across Israel.

The shadowy leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the assault was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, and a series of recent incidents that have brought Israeli-Palestinian tensions to a fever pitch.

Over the past year, Israel's far-right government has ramped up settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settler violence has displaced hundreds of Palestinians there, and tensions have flared around the Al-Aqsa mosque, a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site.

Deif, who does not appear in public, said in a recorded message that the attack was only the start of what he called "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm," and called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight.

Asked by reporters how Hamas had managed to catch the army off guard, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, replied, "That's a good question."

The Hamas incursion on Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll, revived painful memories of the 1973 Mideast war, in which Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, aiming to take back Israeli-occupied territories.

The comparison sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who had campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza. Political commentators lambasted the government and military over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unprecedented in its level of planning and coordination.

The abduction of Israeli civilians and soldiers also raised a particularly thorny issue for Israel, which has a history of making heavily lopsided exchanges to bring captive Israelis home. Israel is holding thousands of Palestinians in its prisons. Hecht confirmed that a "substantial" number of Israelis were abducted Saturday.

A major question now was whether Israel will launch a ground assault into Gaza, a move that in the past has brought intensified casualties. Netanyahu vowed that Hamas "will pay an unprecedented price." But, he warned, "This war will take time. It will be difficult."

Israel's military was bringing four divisions of troops as well as tanks to the Gaza border, joining 31 battalions already in the area, a spokesperson said.

Hamas said it had planned for a potentially long fight. "We are prepared for all options, including all-out war," the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, told Al-Jazeera TV. "We are ready to do whatever is necessary for the dignity and freedom of our people."

US President Joe Biden said from the White House that he had spoken with Netanyahu to say the United States "stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop."

The attack comes at a time of historic division within Israel over Netanyahu's proposal to overhaul the judiciary. Mass protests over the plan have sent hundreds of thousands of Israeli demonstrators into the streets and prompted hundreds of military reservists to avoid volunteer duty — turmoil that has raised fears over the military's battlefield readiness.

The Prime Minister is driving home a final push for the Yes campaign rallying volunteers and spoke with voters in the nation's capital ahead of next weekend's poll.

Anthony Albanese has also unequivocally ruled out a legislated version of the Voice if the referendum fails.

For the Prime Minister on the campaign trail at Canberra's annual Floriade festival, it was a field of flowers and a sea of selfies.

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With six days to go, he was trying to convince undecided Voice voters, to get on board.

Earlier at a Yes Rally in Queanbeyan, just outside Canberra, he was preaching to a choir of volunteers crucial to the campaign:

"This is our time, this is the change Australia deserves," he said.

The Prime Minister told 9News: "The response in regional Australia as well as in our cities, is very positive. It's just about two things, recognition and listening to get better outcomes."

However, a new Resolve Political Monitor in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age showed of 4728 people surveyed, 56.1 per cent said they were against the Voice, while 43.9 percent, said they'd voteYyes.

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On a state-by-state basis, only Tasmania returned a Yes result, while on a smaller sample size.

Denying the Yes advocates felt like the underdogs in the race, Anthony Albanese said: "I'm just seeing this as an enormous opportunity for Australia to move forward."

"There's everything to gain here but nothing to lose."

The Voice will be lost though, if Australia says no.

The Prime Minister confirmed he'll 'walk away' from the proposal, if the referendum is rejected.

"If Australians vote no, I don't believe that it would be appropriate to say oh well you've had you say but we'll legislate it anyway," he told the ABC's Insiders.

Deputy opposition leader Susan Ley said: "It's is a loss for the country to see this referendum divide the country, the way it has given me no joy."

Two bodies have been found at a property at Riverwood in Sydney's south.

Police were called to the Union Street home about 2pm, first discovering the body of a man inside a truck parked in the driveway.

A woman's body was then found inside the home.

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Both are believed to be aged in their seventies.

Police say there were no other suspects.

There are 87 New Zealanders registered as being in Israel.

National and Labour condemn alleged attack on National candidate.

Power of education in teaching students they can achieve anything, says the familiar face.

Hail, tornadoes, flash flooding and strong winds are all possible.

Heather So thought her daughter Emily was suffering from a bout of car sickness when she complained about feeling unwell.

But when she took her four-year-old for a scan, it revealed she had a deadly form of cancer.

Emily was diagnosed with a fatal paediatric brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

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Her father, BJ, a doctor, said the period "felt like a nightmare slowly unfolding in front of us".

"At the start, the tumour robbed Emily of her smile, which was heartbreaking to see," he said.

"Eventually, it also took her ability to walk, speak, hear and even swallow."

Life started to change for their "funny, quirky, gentle and brave little girl".

The preschooler endured six weeks of daily radiotherapy, with each session requiring a general anesthetic to help her lie still for the procedure.

"Emily endured the only available treatment for children with DIPG – one round of palliative radiotherapy," Mrs So said.

"And then we waited, enjoying what time we could making special memories together." 

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During Emily's final months, the family tried to treasure each moment with their daughter.

"One of Emily's bucket list items was to visit a lighthouse and go to the top, which we were able to make happen," Mrs So said.

Seven months after her diagnosis, Emily died at home at the age of five.

She left behind her parents, her 10-year-old sister Caitlin and her nine-year-old sister Annabelle. 

"Words cannot fully describe the pain that comes with losing your own child," Dr So said.

"It is a deep and harrowing grief that no parent should ever have to endure.

"Everywhere she went, she took her favourite toy elephant, Ellie, with her. 

"And to this day, we still carry Ellie with us on every family holiday in memory of Emily."

READ MORE: Nine-year-old started 'seeing double' before life-changing diagnosis

DIPG is 100 per cent fatal and funding for research into the disease is limited, often leaving families to fundraise themselves.

The couple is now doing everything in their power to make sure no parent ever has to endure a devastating loss like their own.

In honour of Emily, 11 cyclists will travel almost 500 kilometres over six days from Mount Kosciuszko to Wollongong.

All funds raised will go towards an Australian-first clinical trial called Levi's Catch, which aims to provide the first effective treatment for children with the disease.

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The research, launched for the first time outside of the US, is being conducted by doctors at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick and will use a child's own immune system to specifically target DIPG.

The process involves CAR-T cells – a type of white blood cell – being taken out of the patient's body in a laboratory, then genetically engineering them to target and attack the deadly cancer.

The immune cells are then infused back into the child, scanning and destroying the harmful cancer cells.

The family has also met with NSW Health Minister Ryan Park to discuss the lack of treatment options available and the potential support the government could provide.

"Despite DIPG being such a deadly and aggressive tumour, the medical treatment for children hasn't changed in more than half a century – since before man walked on the moon," Mrs So said.

"We can't change what's happened to our family, but we can do everything we can to make a difference to other children diagnosed with DIPG."

New South Wales parents Charles and Bridget Poolman are also raising awareness of the disease after they lost their nine-year-old daughter Evie in October 2020.

"We can't just accept that when you're diagnosed with this you're going to die," the couple told Sydney radio station 2GB.

"We need to create solutions and options."

A sunny day quickly turned into a driving hailstorm in the Bay of Plenty.