Mother of Shani Louk, taken by Hamas, says her daughter’s alive

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(NewsNation) — The mother of a 22-year-old German woman who attended an Israeli music festival and is believed to be the woman seen in a viral video being paraded around Gaza by Hamas militants told NewsNation she has received reports that her daughter is alive and in a hospital.

Ricarda Louk, the mother of tattoo artist Shani Louk, who was kidnapped by Hamas, told NewsNation’s Connell McShane she heard the news from a friend with a reliable source, and they passed the information along to authorities in both Israel and Germany.

“We have recently heard yesterday some reports from Gaza that she is alive and that she is in a hospital,” Ricarda Louk said. “She’s injured badly in the head but she’s alive.”

The family hasn’t heard back from Germany or Israel about the possibility of a rescue for Shani Louk at the time of publication of this report. However, Ricarda Louk says she has a point of contact with the German government with whom she’s been talking “day and night.”

“They’re very available, they centralize all the data,” Ricarda Louk said.

There are many details the family still doesn’t have.

Shani Louk was at an Israeli music festival when the area was attacked by Palestinian militant group Hamas Saturday, resulting in Israel declaring war. Thousands have died in the conflict since.

On the morning of the attack, Ricarda Louk says she awoke to sirens and immediately worried about her daughter. When contacted, Shani told her mom she was still at the music festival but would drive to a safe location nearby.

“She was a little bit panicked,” Ricarda Louk recalled. “In the beginning, we didn’t think a lot about it, she said she will be OK, she knows where to go.”

But after that conversation, she stopped answering phone calls from her family.

Then, Shani’s friend sent the family the disturbing video that went viral — a half-naked, unconscious and injured woman lying face down in the back of a pickup truck in the Gaza Strip. One militant had a leg draped over her body. Another held her by the dreadlocks in her hair. The Louk family identified the woman as Shani, pointing to the distinct tattoos on her legs that were bent at an unusual angle, indicating they may be broken. She also had visible injuries to her head, where she was bleeding.

“We saw this horrific video, and that really broke us,” Ricarda Louk said.

Hearing Shani Louk might be in the hospital gives the family “a little bit more hope,” Ricarda Louk said, especially at a time when it’s still “very chaotic” in Israel with officials tending to the dead and missing.

“The whole country is very busy and (there are no) no resources, so it’s very difficult to get help regarding the kidnapped people,” Ricarda Louk said. “We want to take care of my daughter and try to get her out as soon as possible.”

For Ricarda Louk, the tragedy of Shani’s circumstance was that she was kidnapped at the music festival, where she was doing what she loved.

“She’s a very happy person,” Ricarda Louk said. “She likes music, she likes dancing, she has many friends all over the world.”

Other families like Shani Louk’s have reported loved ones being kidnapped by Hamas as well.