It has been revealed that Shani Louk’s family knew for certain that their daughter had died in Gaza when Israeli police handed them an envelope containing charred jewelery removed from her remains.
The brutal kidnapping of the 22-year-old German-Israeli tattoo artist from the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists on October 7 became one of the enduring symbols of the atrocities.
Images of his half-naked body strolling through the streets of Gaza in the back of a van were omnipresent in the weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel, but his father, Nissim Louk, was hopeful that he had survived the ordeal. .
For months, Nissim and the family tried to get information out of Gaza, using all their contacts to find a man in the Palestinian enclave who would look for Shani and provide details about his whereabouts and condition.
But their hopes were dashed when IDF soldiers discovered human remains they believed to be Shani’s in a night raid on a Gaza location two weeks ago.
Nissim said that a few days later, he learned for sure that Shani was missing when an Israeli police officer handed over the envelope containing his daughter’s necklace, earrings, nose and lip piercings, along with documents confirming his death.
The brutal kidnapping of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli tattoo artist, at the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists on October 7 became one of the enduring symbols of the atrocities.
Nissim and Ricarda Louk, the parents of Shani Louk, 22 years old
Nissim Louk (L) and Ricarda Louk attend the funeral of their daughter Shani Louk during her funeral on May 19, 2024 in Srigim-Li On, Israel
Palestinian militants return to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli citizen, on October 7.
Shocking images shared on social media showed Palestinian fighters parading Shani’s naked body in the back of a van.
Nissim and Ricarda Louk, the parents of Shani Louk, 22, who was taken hostage by Hamas after being kidnapped at the Nova festival, following a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip in Israel, and who more He was later confirmed dead by the Israeli government. , are photographed at his home in Srigim-Li On, Israel
Nissim said The Telegraph how he immediately recognized Shani’s dreadlocks and tattoos from images of her in the back of a Hamas van.
“We didn’t see any blood on that white van, so we thought, maybe it’s OK,” he said.
But since Hamas did not provide any confirmation about his daughter’s condition, Nissim resorted to desperate measures.
By contacting relatives in Germany who were able to connect with Palestinian acquaintances, Nissim managed to contact an elderly Gazan who agreed to work for the family and help search for information on Shani’s whereabouts.
The man provided few details, but claimed to have seen WhatsApp messages between Gaza doctors that allegedly described their care for a “German girl,” a description Nissim believed likely referred to his daughter.
Earlier this month, Nissim said the family had “hoped, planned and prayed” for Shani’s safety and were “looking for clues to prove she was alive.”
But his prayers remained unanswered.
Nissim recounted how IDF officers arrived at the house and explained how troops conducting a raid into Gaza had stumbled upon human remains.
The officer said skull fragments recovered at the scene appeared to match Shani’s DNA, suggesting she had suffered a fatal injury.
Inside, along with some documents, were a blackened chain necklace, a pair of gold earrings, and studs of Shani’s nose and lips.
Shani’s body was found in the woods near her home on May 19 in a moving ceremony attended by dozens of mourners.
Nissim Louk reacts during the funeral of his daughter Shani Louk on May 19, 2024 in Srigim-Li On, Israel
A drone view shows mourners during the funeral of German-Israeli Shani Louk, who was killed in the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Srigim, Israel, on May 19, 2024.
Atim Louk (L) was among the pallbearers carrying the coffin of his sister Shani Louk on May 19, 2024 in Srigim-Li On, Israel.
Shani Louk is pictured with Oryon Hernandez Radoux, who was also kidnapped and later found dead in Gaza.
Shani Louk and Oryón Hernández Radoux
IDF officials revealed that Shani’s remains were found next to the bodies of two other hostages: Itzhak Gelerenter, 57, and Amit Buskila, 28.
The three attended the Supernova festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, one of the first sites attacked by Hamas in its deadly incursion into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the death of the three revelers “heartbreaking” and added: “We will return all our hostages, both the living and the dead.”
Late last week, IDF troops working with members of Israel’s Shin Bet security service launched a similar raid and recovered the remains of three more hostages.
Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Oryon Hernandez-Radoux were kidnapped at the Supernova music festival and at the Mefalsim intersection just a mile from the Gaza border on Oct. 7, and were subsequently killed by Hamas, Israeli officials said.
Hernandez-Radoux, 30, was Shani’s boyfriend. The two had shared photos together on social media in the days and weeks before her kidnapping.
Shani was seen dancing at the Nova Festival near Kibbutz Re’im hours before Hamas gunmen crossed the border en masse on October 7, 2023.
Earlier this month, Nissim spoke out in defense of the award given to an AP photographer who captured the chilling moment Hamas paraded the half-naked body of his 22-year-old daughter through Gaza.
His comments come after friends said they were shocked the photograph had won the prestigious award and were in tears.
Shani was one of approximately 1,200 people killed on October 7 by Hamas.
Shani with her mother Ricarda (pictured, left)
Shani Louk and Oryón Hernández Radoux
The decision to award AP photographer Ali Mahmud the highest photojournalism gong awarded by the Reynolds Institute of Journalism after taking first place in ‘Team Photo Story of the Year’ sparked outrage.
The photo shows five armed Hamas members in a van, one of whom rests his feet on Louk’s limp body.
More images show the terrorists parading his body in Gaza amid cheering crowds and one of them spitting on his remains.
But Nissim said: “It’s good that the photo won the prize.”
“This is one of the most important photographs of the last 50 years,” he told Ynet.
He expressed his firm belief that his daughter’s photograph will leave a mark on human history, considering it a symbol of the current era and, hopefully, serving as documentation for generations to come.
“These are some of the photographs that shape human memory, the Jew raising his hands, the paratroopers at the Western Wall, photographs that symbolize an era,” he continued.
‘This documentation of Shani and Noa Argamani on the motorcycle symbolizes this era. “I think it’s good to use it to inform the future.”
‘If I start crying, what will happen? This is history. In 100 years they will look and know what happened here. “I travel the world and everyone knows who Shani is,” she told Ynet.
But Shani’s mother Ricarda said she was horrified by the image and claimed it forced her and her family to relive the trauma of losing their loved one.
