JERUSALEM — 23 year old German-Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas during music festival has been confirmed dead. This comes days after her semi-naked body was paraded through the streets of Gaza by Hamas.
The woman who was held hostage by the Hamas militants while attending a music extravaganza in Nova during the October 7 attack in Israel has passed on according to Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We are devastated to share that the body of 23 year old German-Israeli Shani (Louk) was found and identified,” posted the ministry on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
“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,” read the statement from the Ministry.
Shani was attending the music festival in Southern Israel on October 7 when the militants breached and penetrated the border between Gaza and Israel attacking and killing civilians.
They blocked off the entrance to the festival from both north as well as south before swarming alongside sprawling the scene on foot. They surrounded the revelers on three sides, attacking them; thus forcing them to run to the east.
Over 1400 persons perished and 200 others held hostage by Hamas terror group. The attacks targeted the festival, towns, and military bases.
Shani’s mother Ricarda Louk confirmed that they last communicated with the daughter after she heard airstrikes and alarms emanating from southern Israel. She called to confirm if Shani had moved to a secure place. However, she told the mother that she was still at the venue left with limited options to hide.
“She was going to her car and they had military people standing by the cars and were shooting so people couldn’t reach their cars, even to go away. And that’s when they took her,” said Ricarda.
“It looks very bad, but I still have hope. I hope that they don’t take bodies for negotiations. I hope that she’s still alive somewhere. We don’t have anything else to hope for, so I try to believe,” she said.
However, Ricarda’s fears were on Monday allayed when Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of her daughter.
“Unfortunately we received news yesterday that my daughter is no longer alive,” she said.
Elsewhere, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense pressure from families whose members are held hostages for him to negotiate a comprehensive deal to affirm their release. This followed a meeting held between the PM and affected families in Tel Aviv on Saturday. These calls come despite the ongoing offensive by Israel in Gaza
“We spoke bluntly and made it clear to the prime minister in no uncertain terms that a comprehensive deal based on the ‘everyone for everyone’ principle is a deal the families would consider, and has the support of all of Israel,” said Meirav Leshem Gonen, mother of Romi Gonen, who was held hostage from the festival, on behalf of the families in a news conference after the meeting.
