Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German resident in Israel who was attending a music festival for peace, is the woman whose half-naked, face-down body was carried by Hamas militiamen in an open van in which they celebrated their assault on the country. The video of the horror, which later circulated until it went viral, reached her relatives, who this Sunday identified Shani, a tattoo artist, by her tattoos and by the dreadlocks in her hair.
Shani Louk’s death has not been confirmed, and her family is holding on to the possibility that she was perhaps still alive in the van, although unconscious. Her mother, Ricarda, posted a moving video pleading for help: “This morning [on Saturday] my daughter, Shani Nicole Louk, a German citizen, was kidnapped with a group of tourists in southern Israel by Hamas Palestinians. “They sent us a video in which our daughter could clearly be seen unconscious in a vehicle with the Palestinians and them driving through the Gaza Strip.”
“I ask you to send us any help or any news. Thank you very much,” concludes the mother, addressing the authorities. The mother shows a mobile phone with an image of her daughter, who also has Israeli nationality. Hamas maintains that the body seen in the van video is that of an Israeli soldier, but Tomasina Weintraub-Louk, Shani’s cousin, told the British newspaper The Telegraph that it is undoubtedly her cousin, whom she recognizes. because of the tattoos and dreadlocks.
The scene is brutal. Several Hamas gunmen shout from the open back of the van where a half-naked female body lies face down, while a crowd on foot cheers them on. One of the militiamen is sitting and has her leg over the young woman’s waist, while another grabs part of her hair combed into dreadlocks.
The German Foreign Ministry has said for now that “the German embassy in Tel Aviv is in close contact with the Israeli authorities to clarify” the situation of German citizens. Shani had gone with her Mexican boyfriend, Orion Chirris, to the music festival. Family and friends of Orion Chirris also ask for help through social networks; They have not been able to contact him since the beginning of the Hamas attack.
They and other young people – many of whom remain unaccounted for – were at the open-air Nova Festival, near a kibbutz in a rural area near the Israel-Gaza border. The Nova Festival, known as the festival of peace, was intended to be the culmination of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Hundreds of young people saw dawn break on Saturday, they were surprised by the Hamas attack, assaulted, kidnapped and forcibly taken to Gaza. Several dozen managed to hide among bushes and were thus able to save themselves.
