The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the 23-year-old German-Israeli lady who was abducted by Hamas militants from the Nova music festival on October 7 has been officially pronounced deceased.
The ministry wrote on Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, “We are devastated to share that the body of 23-year-old German-Israeli Shani (Louk) was found and identified.”
According to a person engaged in her identification, Louk’s death was declared when forensic experts discovered a piece of her skull.
The broken bone comes from the temporal bone’s petrous region, which is located at the base of the skull and is often close to the carotid artery, a significant blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain. According to a DNA test, Louk owned the fragment.
A day after Shani’s death was officially declared, her mother Ricarda Louk told CNN on Tuesday, “She was a beautiful, lively person.” “She just wanted to laugh and live her life, and it was just too short.”
On October 7, Louk was in southern Israel attending a festival when Hamas crossed the border into Gaza.
According to a statement from the foreign ministry, Louk was abducted during the festival and “tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists,” adding that she “experienced unfathomable horrors.”
Investigators concluded these were Louk’s remains after examining the bone fragment, the events leading up to the October 7 attack, and the footage that seemed to show Louk asleep on the back of a Hamas truck.
During their October 7 attack, militants shut off the festival’s road from both the north and the south, and footage from the scene showed that they then swarmed the vast area on foot.
The throng were then forced to retreat over fields to the east as they were surrounded by gunmen on three sides.
Louk’s mother told CNN earlier this month that she last called to her daughter to check on her safety after hearing rockets and alarms go off in southern Israel. Shani informed her mother that there wasn’t much room for hiding while at the festival.
“As she made her way to her car, military personnel were stationed nearby, firing at civilians to prevent them from reaching or even leaving their vehicles. And that’s when they seized her,” CNN’s Ricarda said.
Louk’s mother claimed on Tuesday that the event had changed from “a celebration to a nightmare.”
Ricarda Louk continued, “After three weeks, you have no idea where your daughter is, what they’re doing to her, and how you feel about it all.” You have no idea if she’s hurt, whether she’s alive at all. It feels like you’ve been waiting for signals for three weeks in a vacuum.
“And all of a sudden, you receive the worst news,” she remarked. “We had hopes all the time. We had high hopes that she would return.
According to the Israeli rescue agency Zaka, more than 260 bodies were discovered at the Nova festival site alone. However, CNN’s investigation suggests that the actual death toll may be much higher.
Following the attack on the music event, the body of Louk, the dual Israeli-German citizen, was seen on camera appearing to be unconscious on the back of a Hamas truck.
“You saw on the video that it’s impossible to tell if she’s dead or alive. In the days following the rampage, Louk’s mother told CNN, “It was quite frightful, and we were very scared.
Her mother continued by saying that she had asked the German authorities for assistance in assisting in her daughter’s release. Louk remarked, “It was a complete surprise and I don’t understand really how such a terrible thing could just occur in the middle of the day.”
In addition, other hostages were returned to Gaza. According to Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the number of hostages thought to be held by Hamas in the enclave is as high as 239 as of Sunday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that Pvt. Ori Megidish, an Israeli soldier who had been abducted by Hamas on October 7, had been released during ground operations in Gaza.
IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, “It was in fact a Special Operation that was targeted in specifically getting her out.” He also added that the IDF’s earlier announcement, which stated the soldier was “released,” was a translation error.
According to Conricus, “based on intelligence,” Israeli special forces entered northern Gaza with knowledge of her whereabouts and brought her to safety. He said that Megidish was “well mentally and physically” and that she had been reunited with her family. “They were in there for a job,” he added.
An American mother and her daughter, as well as an 85-year-old Israeli woman and her 79-year-old companion, were among the four hostages who had earlier been freed.
However, the families of the hostages are putting more and more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a “comprehensive deal” that would guarantee their release. Due to worries about what Israel’s escalating ground operations would mean for the security of hostages held in Gaza, these calls are becoming more urgent.
At their Saturday meeting in Tel Aviv, the families of the hostages pressed Netanyahu to ensure the release of their loved ones as Israel’s offensive intensified and demanded information about their safety.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of Romi Gonen, who was abducted from the festival, spoke on behalf of the families at a press conference after the meeting. “We spoke bluntly to make it clear to the prime minister in blunt terms that a comprehensive deal based on the ‘everyone for everyone’ principle is something that the families would consider, as well as has the support of all of Israel,” Gonen said.
An “everyone for everyone” agreement would see the release of the hostages in exchange for the 6,630 Palestinians who, according to the non-governmental group Palestinian Prisoners Club, are now detained in Israeli prisons.
A brief video that Hamas posted on Monday purports to depict three women who are hostages of the Palestinian militant organization.
In the video, they can be seen facing the camera while sitting in plastic chairs. The woman in the middle is seen addressing Netanyahu directly, her anger building. She mentions a news conference held “yesterday” by the captives’ families, implying that it was recorded on Monday.
Although the women don’t appear to be physically abused, CNN is unable to confirm any information regarding their situation or general well-being.