Woman whose body was paraded around on back of Hamas pick-up truck identified
A woman who was killed in yesterday's strike on Israel before her lifeless body was paraded around on a pick-up truck has been identified by her family.
Shani Louk, 30, had been visiting the besieged nation from Germany with a tourist group and was attending a "music festival for peace" when she was kidnapped during a surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday (October 7). The assault saw thousands of rockets fired at civilian settlements from Gaza as gunmen took to the streets.
Horror footage on social media showed Shani's corpse lying in the truck surrounded by terrorists, with one of her legs cocked at an unnatural angle. Hamas supporters were heard cheering and ran next to the truck, while some were even filmed spitting on Shani.
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Hamas claimed the body belonged to a female Israeli soldier. However, multiple members of Shani's family have since identified her, with her cousin saying they had recognised the tattoo artist's leg tattoos and dreadlocks.
"It is definitely Shani," Tomasina Weintraub-Louk confirmed to the Daily Mail. "She was at a music festival for peace. This is a nightmare for our family."
Meanwhile Shani's devastated sister took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote: "This is my sister Shani Louk. She is taken by Hamas. She is a German citizen," alongside the same message translated into German.
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In a heartbreaking video posted to social media, Shani's mum asked for "any help or news" concerning her daughter's demise. Speaking in German, she said: "This morning my daughter Shani Louk, a German citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas with a tourist group in the south of Israel.
"We were sent a video where I could clearly see our daughter, unconscious in the car with the Palestinians, driving through the Gaza Strip."
Shani is one of at least 480 people who lost their lives in yesterday's attacks, while another 3,200 were injured. The assault also saw property and infrastructure damaged or destroyed across Israel.
Hamas, recognised as a terrorist group by the UK and a number of other countries, said its goal was to "set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers" after it launched the attack – which fell on the Jewish high holiday of Simchat Torah.
The group's military chief Mohammed Deif said: "This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth." Deif claimed some 5,000 rockets were launched in the initial attack, while other estimates have put the figure closer to 2,200.
Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the country would fight back. Taking to X, he simply wrote: "We are at war," accompanied by a video statement in Hebrew.
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