German-Israeli woman Shani Louk, whose semi-naked body was paraded through the streets of Gaza by Hamas militants, has been confirmed dead.
“We are devastated to share that the death of 23-year-old German-Israeli Shani Luk was confirmed,” Israel’s foreign ministry said on X.
“Shani who was kidnapped from a music festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists, experienced unfathomable horrors. Our hearts are broken. May her memory be a blessing.”
Louk’s mother, Ricarda Louk, told German broadcaster RTL/ntv that Israeli officials said a skull fragment had been as her daughter’s based on DNA evidence.
Louk had been attending a festival near the Kibbutz Re’im when Hamas militants stormed the area on October 7, killing more than 260 people.
In total, more than 1,400 people were killed and 200 were kidnapped in the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel that day, which targeted the festival as well as towns and military bases.
German-Israeli Shani Louk, whose semi-naked body was paraded through the streets of Gaza by Hamas militants. shanukkk/Instagram
Soon after the attacks, a video circulated on social media of a young woman with dreadlocks on the back of a pickup truck and surrounded by Hamas gunmen.
In it, the woman appeared to be stripped to her underwear, and her legs were bent at unnatural angles while one soldier grabbed her hair. People were also seen spitting on her body.
Her face wasn’t visible, but her dreadlocks and tattoos helped her family identify her as Louk, The Washington Post reported.
Days after the attack, her mother, Ricarda Louk, told Bild that her daughter had called her while at the festival, and said she was looking for ways to flee with her boyfriend and others. She told her daughter to seek refuge at a local shelter but then heard gunfire ring out on the other end of the phone, she told the outlet.
Ricarda told Bild that Palestinian sources told her that her daughter was alive in a Hamas hospital, but suffered a “severe head injury.”
“We now have reasons to believe that Shani is alive but has had a severe head injury and is in critical condition. Every minute is critical,” Ricarda told Bild at the time.
However, speaking to German broadcaster RTL/ntv on Monday, Ricarda said she now believes her daughter has been dead since October 7.
“Unfortunately we received news yesterday that my daughter is no longer alive,” she said.
