The Israeli government declared German-Israeli citizen Shani Louk dead on Monday, three weeks after Hamas kidnapped her at a music festival and paraded her through the streets of Gaza.
It was previously believed that 23-year-old German-Israeli Shani Louk, who was kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip during Hamas’s October 7 attack, was still alive but in critical condition.
When videos of a partially nude body being paraded through the streets of a pick-up truck by Palestinian gunmen surfaced, her mother was able to identify her unique tattoos and dreadlocks.
Louk’s family said on Monday that they received a letter from the Israeli Zaka rescue service informing them that her remains had been found and identified.
German broadcaster RTL/ntv reported that her family now believes she was killed on the same day, possibly shot in the head, after initially believing she was alive but injured when she was abducted from the music festival.
“I am truly sorry to report that we have now received news that Shani Nicole Louk has been confirmed murdered and dead,” President Isaac Herzog told the German newspaper Bild.
“Her skull was found,” he said, with the 23-year-old victim’s family also confirming that the death was confirmed by DNA on parts of her skull.
“At least she didn’t suffer,” her mother Ricarda Louk said.
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Her sister Adi also confirmed the death of Shani in a post on Instagram.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of my sister, Shani Nicole Z.L. [may her memory be a blessing], who was on October 7, 2023, at the party massacre in Re’im.”
Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed the death on social media, writing: “Shani who was kidnapped from a music festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists, experienced unfathomable horrors.
“Our hearts are broken.”
The circumstances of her death were not immediately clear, however a family source said that a part of a body had been found which was matched to Louk’s DNA.
Her body has not yet been returned from Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.
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