Murdered by Hamas
Israeli military finds body of German Shani Louk
May 17, 2024, 5:37 p.m
Shortly after the massacre on October 7th, the Israeli army announced the death of the German-Israeli Shani Louk. She was murdered by Hamas at a music festival, but her body was kidnapped. Now it can be recovered by the military.
The Israeli military has found the bodies of three Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip who were abducted in the Hamas-led terror attack on October 7. The armed forces said that among the bodies discovered was that of the young German-Israeli Shani Louk. The other two bodies are Amit Bouskila and Itzhak Gelerenter. They were found in a Hamas tunnel.
The bodies were recovered that night during a special operation by the army and the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet in the Gaza Strip. It was an operation based on intelligence information. After the dead were identified, the families were informed. “We will continue to fight to bring the hostages home,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
According to Israeli figures, more than 1,100 people died in the massacre. 240 people were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip – some of them later died, others have since been released. Louk – like Bouskila and Gelerenter – took part in the Supernova festival in southern Israel on the night of October 7th. The music festival ended in a bloodbath, with Hamas murdering several hundred people there.
Splinters of a skull bone found
The Israeli army had already reported Louk’s death at the end of October, but there was uncertainty about the fate of the other two hostages. Her mother, Ricarda Louk, said at the time that a sliver of a skull bone had been found and used to take a DNA sample. If you injured this inner skull bone, you would no longer be able to live, the mother said at the time. The parents had provided the authorities with the necessary DNA comparison material a long time ago.
Images and videos that circulated online after the terrorist attack showed the young woman’s body on the attackers’ pickup truck. Her family said they recognized the young woman in the photos and shortly afterwards turned to the public to ask for help. Initially, Shani Louk’s family, some of whom live in Baden-Württemberg, assumed that the young woman was seriously injured in the head in the attack, but was alive and in the Gaza Strip.
After the Israeli Defense Forces reported the death of the young woman, her relatives held a memorial service. “We’re still waiting to get the body back. We’ll wait a year, until October 7th. If the body comes back, then we’ll have a proper burial, if not, we’ll probably put up an empty grave.” said Louk’s mother in April.