A 12-year-old is among 14 French nationals missing after Hamas launched deadly raids into Israel, France's foreign ministry said Monday, calling the situation "worrying".
Two French people were killed in "Hamas's terrorist attacks against Israel", the French government said previously.
Dozens of foreigners were killed, injured or taken hostage during a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas Saturday that has left 800 people dead, mostly Israelis.
"Based on the information we have, we consider it highly likely that some of them have been abducted", the French foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that "this number is still subject to change".
The ministry said Monday that almost 62,000 French nationals are registered with the consulate-general in Tel Aviv, with a further 25,000 in Jerusalem.
Many French travellers were also present in Israel at the time of the attacks, it added.
The French anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against French citizens abroad, said on Monday that it was "in contact with the (French) foreign ministry".
"(This) is to obtain information on the victims and the circumstances of their deaths in order to decide whether or not to open one or more investigations," it added.
French nationals should "follow the recommendations to remain extremely vigilant issued by our teams at the French embassy in Tel Aviv, the consulate-general in Jerusalem and the Israeli authorities," the ministry urged.
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