A British lawyer has described the agony of viewing distressing Hamas propaganda films as he searches for evidence that his sister and her family are alive after they were kidnapped from home close to Gaza in the deadly terrorist attack.

Ahal Besorai told how he spoke with sister Yonat Or on the phone as she cowered inside the shelter of her home at the Be’eri Kibbutz while Palestinian gunmen roamed around shooting and killing.

But while his elderly father and his older sister were rescued by the Israeli army hours later, there was no trace of Yonat, 50, her husband Dror, 50, and two of their three children, Noam, 15 and Alama, 13.

Now the 60-year-old Cambridge University educated lawyer from London trawls through hours of hate-filled propaganda videos posted on the internet in the hope of finding evidence that his loved-ones are alive.

Mr Besorai told MailOnline: ‘My sister and her family was last seen being pulled out of their home by the terrorists.

Yonat Or, 50, her husband Dror, 50. British lawyer Ahal Besorai told how he spoke with sister Yonat on the phone as she cowered inside the shelter of her home at the Be’eri Kibbutz while Palestinian gunmen roamed around shooting and killing

Yonat holding a plant. While Mr Besorai’s elderly father and his older sister were rescued by the Israeli army hours later, there was no trace of Yonat, 50, her husband Dror, 50, and two of their three children, Noam, 15 and Alama, 13

A picture taken on October 11, 2023 shows a destroyed house at the scene of last weekend’s inflitration by Palestian militants on kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza

‘Since then I have watched many of these horrible terrorist videos looking for them. I am hoping to see something that tells me that they are alive. But nothing.

‘It is perverse to say, but I hope my sister and her family are in the hands of Hamas rather than dead.

‘These people are like ISIS, savages, but if they are being held hostage at least they are alive. And that give me hope.’

Distressing videos of civilians cowering in terror, being bundled into vehicles heading for Gaza and rabid gunmen shooting and looting have been posted by Hamas and its supporters since their incursion into Israel on Saturday.

Yonat Or, her husband and two of their children. Cambridge University educated lawyer Ahal Besorai, from London, is trawling through hours of hate-filled propaganda videos posted on the internet in the hope of finding evidence that his loved-ones are alive

Yonat Or, her husband Dror and their daughter Alama, 13. Mr Besorai told MailOnline: ‘My sister and her family was last seen being pulled out of their home by the terrorists. Since then I have watched many of these horrible terrorist videos looking for them’

Yonat Or and her husband Dror cuddling in front of the camera. Mr Besorai said: ‘It is perverse to say, but I hope my sister and her family are in the hands of Hamas rather than dead’

Mr Besorai grew up at the Be’eri Kibbutz in the Negev desert about five miles from the border with Gaza before he moved to London to study law.

He said: ‘I called my sister Yonat on Saturday morning. It was about 6.30 in the morning and she said there had been a barrage of rockets and that they were going into the shelter.

‘She was whispering because she could hear shooting and men speaking in Arabic, shouting “Allah Akbar”.

‘She didn’t want to alert them that they were at home.

‘I ended the call. I was worried but I didn’t want to call back. I didn’t want her phone to ring and the terrorists to hear it.

‘So I sent WhatsApp messages but she did not read them.

‘Later I called her husband Dror as well but there was no answer.

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‘The kibbutz is a small community. I know a lot of people there.

‘But I could not get hold of anyone.

‘My father and my other sister Noat live there but they could not help them. My father is 89, he could not go out. They had to stay in their shelters.

‘My father was rescued by soldiers after 13 hours. My sister Noat was rescued after 24 hours. But there was no sign of Yonat.

‘In the evening I called their eldest son Yali who is serving in the army in the north.

‘He said he had spoken to a neighbour at the kibbutz.

‘They said the terrorists had set the house on fire. And a friend saw my sister and family pulled of the house alive.

Yonat Or and her husband Dror. Mr Besorai said: ‘I called my sister Yonat on Saturday morning. It was about 6.30 in the morning and she said there had been a barrage of rockets and that they were going into the shelter.’ He said she was whispering because she could hear shooting

Yonat Or and Alama on a boat. Mr Besorai said: ‘I ended the call. I was worried but I didn’t want to call back. I didn’t want her phone to ring and the terrorists to hear it’

Dror and one of their children smiling in the street. ‘My father was rescued by soldiers after 13 hours. My sister Noat was rescued after 24 hours. But there was no sign of Yonat,’ Mr Besorai said, referring to his other sister

‘They must have broken into the shelter. They were dragged out by the terrorists but they were alive. Since then no one has seen or heard from them.

‘Be’eri was one of the worst atrocities. There were 120 bodies pulled out of my kibbutz, an indiscriminate massacre.

‘It was like a pogrom from the last century. Babies were shot and people beheaded.

‘But when the soldiers came they did not find Yonat and her family among the dead.

Dror smiling. Mr Besorai said: ‘In the evening I called their eldest son Yali who is serving in the army in the north. He said he had spoken to a neighbour at the kibbutz. They said the terrorists had set the house on fire. And a friend saw my sister and family pulled of the house alive. They must have broken into the shelter’

Yonat Or, her husband Dror and two of their children on holiday

Yonat Or, her husband Dror and Alama on a boat. Referring to Yonat and her family, Mr Besorai said: ‘They were dragged out by the terrorists but they were alive. Since then no one has seen or heard from them’

‘They are considered missing. I hope they were taken to Gaza.’

Mr Besorai, who now lives in the Philippines, told how he had spent a ‘wonderful’ holiday with his sister in the spring.

He said: ‘My two sons live in London with their mother. We went to Be’eri for three weeks in April. They played together with Yonat’s kids. It was wonderful.

‘Now I am doing everything I can to find them.’