Hamas hostages: 'My wife and children have been taken to Gaza'

'I'm trying to stay calm'
The first inkling Yoni Asher had that his family were inside Gaza was by tracking his wife's mobile phone.

His wife Doron and their two children Raz, 5, and Aviv, 3, were staying with relatives close to the border with Gaza when the militants struck.

Yoni told the BBC: "Saturday, around 10:30 in the morning, was the last call when I spoke with my wife. She told me that terrorists from Hamas had entered the house.

"They were in the safe, secure room then the call got disconnected. Later on, I managed to locate her mobile and it was inside Gaza."

Later that day, his worst fears were seemingly confirmed when he recognised his family being briefly shown in a video of people being loaded on to the back of a truck.

"In the video I recognised my wife and my two daughters, my two little babies," he said.

"I don't know in what terms or what conditions they are held, but you know, the situation is getting much worse. "

For now, like other families, all Yoni can do is hope. "I'm trying to stay calm. I want to believe there is some contact between the diplomats negotiating or something, but we don't know anything - that is the hardest thing."