Shani Louk is dead, her family announces, three weeks after she was abducted by Hamas and paraded on truck

30 October 2023, 10:46 | Updated: 30 October 2023, 11:00

A German-Israeli woman kidnapped from the Supernova music festival by Hamas fighters has been found dead, Israel's foreign ministry has said. 

Shani Louk was taken from the festival by militants after they stormed the site on 7 October in their terror attack which killed hundreds of people at the site alone.

A harrowing video of the 23-year-old circulated online, showing her battered half-naked body face-down in the back of a truck filled with armed men. 

"We are devastated to share that the body of 23-year-old German-Israeli Shani Louk was found and identified," the foreign ministry said. 

"Shani, who was kidnapped from a music festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists, experienced unfathomable horrors. 

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"Our thoughts and prayers are with Shani's friends and family during this unimaginable nightmare. May her memory be a blessing." 

 Hamas gunmen took at least 239 hostages and killed about 1,400 people during the dawn raid.  

Shani Louk’s family also announced her death.

“Unfortunately we got the news yesterday that my daughter is no longer alive,” her mother Ricarda said on German broadcaster RTL. 

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Shani's sister Adi wrote onInstagram that she “announced with great sadness the death of my sister”.

Her mother had previously said she thought her daughter was alive and being treated in a hospital in Gaza.

She had been paraded by Hamas gunmen after the festival attack - it is unclear if she was alive in the video.

Her mother told German news outlet Bild on October 10: “We now have evidence that Shani is alive but has a serious head injury and is in critical condition. Every minute is critical.

The development comes as Rishi Sunak is to chair an emergency Cobra meeting amid fears that the conflict between Hamas and Israel could have increased the domestic terror threat in Britain.

The Prime Minister will assemble police and national security officials and Home Secretary Suella Braverman in Downing Street on Monday morning, Whitehall sources said.

Education minister Robert Halfon stressed before the meeting that the Government has to ensure British citizens are "safe and secure from the threat of terrorism".

He declined to say whether the terror threat level might be raised. It currently stands at "substantial" in England, Wales and Scotland, meaning an attack is likely.

It has been at that level since February last year when it was lowered from "severe", meaning an attack is highly likely.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley warned on Sunday that terrorism is being "accelerated" by events in the Middle East, as he raised concerns about "state threats from Iran".