Three Americans killed in Hamas invasion of Israel and others missing: report

At least three Americans have been killed in the ongoing Hamas war on Israel, according to a US government memo reviewed by CNN.

The reported State Department document also adds that other US citizens remain unaccounted for in the violence.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Sunday that Americans could be among the dead and said the government was making it a major priority to verify that information and rescue any US hostages.

“We are very actively working to verify those reports,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press.

A US official told The Associated Press the death toll of US citizens in Israel could in fact be four people, according to preliminary reports.

Israel has also confirmed that Americans are among the scores of hostages taken by Hamas during the fighting.

“We have a lot of dual citizens in Israel,” Ron Dermer, Israeli minister for strategic affairs, told CNN’s State of the Union. “I suspect there are several, but we’re still trying to sort through all of all this information after this horrific surprise attack and we’ll make sure to put that information out so that the loved ones of these people who were killed and who are held hostage, they know as quickly as possible.”

The Independent has contacted the State Department for comment.

Citizens of Ireland, Germany, and the UK have also been reported missing or kidnapped in the conflict.

Numerous civilians have already been impacted by the two-day conflict.

At least 700 people in Israel have been killed and more than 400 people have been killed in Palestine, as well thousands more people who have been injured.

Nearly 74,000 people inside of Gaza have been displaced by the fighting, and Israeli forces struck a school being used as a United Nations shelter for displaced people, according to the UN.

“Civilians must be protected at all times, including during fighting,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said in a statement on Sunday. “UNRWA supports calls to reach an immediate ceasefire and a halt to the violence everywhere.”

The Israeli rescue service Zaka says its paramedics removed more than 260 bodies from a music festival that came under attack by Hamas militants.

The total figure of bodies found is expected to be higher, as other paramedic teams were also working in the area and Zaka added that the bodies “haven’t all been collected yet”.