The mother of Shani Louk, a dual citizen who was kidnapped by Hamas operatives on October 7 while attending the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, has been told that her daughter is dead. Her family had held out hope for the tattoo artist who grew up in Germany but lived in Israel, but it has been confirmed that the militant group killed her after she was paraded on the back of a truck following the attack.
Louk, 22, was taken by Hamas from the scene of the attack near Kibbutz Re’im after she had been seen dancing in videos captured at the event before its invasion. She was dragged to the truck and appeared unconscious in video footage that was circulated afterward, though her family said they recognized her thanks to unique leg tattoos. Her boyfriend, Mexican national Orion Hernandez Radoux, is believed to have also been taken hostage, and he has not yet been heard from.
After the video was released, her family pleaded for the German government to help, and a bone from the base of Louk’s skull was found. Her sister Adi announced the news on social media, saying it was with “great sadness” that her mother and family were informed by the Israeli Defense Forces’ Zaka emergency response team that the splinter of bone had matched her DNA
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A video released days after the kidnapping showed a motionless Louk lying in the back of a truck, with her legs bent at unnatural angles and her face covered. Her distinctive leg tattoos and dreadlocks helped her family identify her. Her mother, Ricarda, feared her daughter had died after seeing the video and had since said she believed she was alive and receiving treatment in Gaza.
However, on Monday morning, her mother told the German news agency DPA that Israeli officials had informed her that her daughter was dead. The Israeli military hasn’t released a body for autopsy, but a splinter of skull bone that was submitted to a lab matched the DNA of Louk, according to her sister.
The family of the German-Israeli dual citizen has blasted the German government for not stepping up to help them and has demanded answers from authorities about why it failed to help save Louk. They have slammed the country for “not listening to their pleas” and are planning to take legal action against the government for negligence.
The mother of another German-Israeli dual citizen who was kidnapped during the conflict, a woman named Ayala Sivan, has been told by the Israeli government that her daughter is dead as well. Sivan, who was also a dancer at the music festival, has been reported missing since the attack, and her body has not been found. Her family has not commented on the latest developments. The death of Louk is just the most recent in a series of terror attacks and abductions that have rocked Israel in the weeks following the start of the conflict.e