(NewsNation) — A German-Israeli woman who was kidnapped from an Israeli music festival and was seen in a viral video being paraded around Gaza by Hamas militants has been confirmed dead, the Israeli government said on Monday.
“We are devastated to share that the death of 23-year-old German-Israeli Shani Luk was confirmed,” Israel’s foreign ministry said on X. “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.” 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.
A family source told Reuters that a part of a body had been found which was matched to Louk’s DNA.
Louk’s family initially thought she was alive but injured when she was snatched from the music festival but now believes she was killed on the same day, possibly shot in the head, German broadcaster RTL/ntv reported.
“At least she didn’t suffer,” her mother Ricarda Louk told RTL/ntv.
The circumstances of her death were not immediately clear.
Louk was one of scores of people taken by Hamas during a deadly assault on the Israeli military and civilian communities that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.