MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
Shani Louk’s mother tells of agony after festivalgoer snatched by Hamas is confirmed dead
When the knock came at the door, it could mean only one thing.
“If the army knock on your door in the middle of the night, you know exactly what to expect. It must be the worst,” Ricarda Louk said of the moment soldiers came to tell her the fate of her daughter, Shani.
The 23-year-old German-Israeli woman was last seen being taken into Gaza after Hamas militants stormed the Supernova festival just after dawn on October 7, killing hundreds and snatching hostages.
Ricarda and Nissim Louk, Shani’s parents, say they cannot hold a funeral yet because her body is still in the Gaza Strip
EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS
The video footage of Shani’s lifeless body, splayed face down on the back of a pick-up truck, was widely circulated during the early days of the war. She was immediately recognisable in the footage with her dreadlocked hair and a tattooed leg
