Featured Image Credit: CNN / Instagram/@shanukkk
Topics: World News, Israel
Katherine Sidnell
Trigger warning: This article contains distressing themes
The mom of a German woman who was paraded through the streets of Gaza by Hamas terrorists has shared how her daughter was kidnapped.
Shani Louk had been enjoying a music festival in Southern Israel when the militant group Hamas launched an unexpected deadly attack across the country.
So far, 700 people have been killed in the multi-pronged attack across the nation.
Advert
Like many of those involved in the deadly assaults, Louk had visited the country at the time of the attack and had been enjoying a music festival near Kibbutz Urim.
When Hamas fighters opened fire at the Nature Party festival on October 7, it is believed that at least 260 people were killed with others were severely injured and kidnapped in the crossfire.
Though she is still missing, it is believed Louk was spotted in a disturbing video which shows the armed group celebrating as a young woman lays semi-naked and motionless in a pick-up truck.
Tragically, it’s unclear whether the 23-year-old is still alive but her mom, Ricarda Louk, strongly believes she was captured and is the woman in the video.
As rocket fire began at around 6 am, the worried mom rang to check on her young daughter. Recalling the moment to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, she said: “[Shani] was panicked a little bit and she said she's going to take the car now and go to a safe location. And then we stopped talking.”
Ricarda now believes it was during this period that Louk was taken, adding that she’s not heard from the tattoo artist since.
Hours later, the mom later received a social media update which seemed to confirm her worst fears.
She told the veteran news presenter: “A few hours later, we got a video from a friend through social media and we identified our daughter on a pickup truck in the back, lying on the floor with the militant men around her and pushing her down and with arms.”
After recognising her daughter’s distinctive tattoos and dreadlocks, the mom is now anxiously awaiting more news.
“We saw that somebody tried to use a credit card in the Gaza Strip multiple times. That's all we have,” she explained.
Ricarda, who lives near Jerusalem, also believes that several of her daughter’s friends have been taken and share her horror at the attacked.
“I don't understand really how such a brutal thing can just happen in the middle of the day,” she said, adding: “It was a complete surprise. I mean, we’ve gotten used to the rockets, we live here with the rockets
"We have a kind of routine to go to the safe room and to take care of [ourselves]. But this was a different attack that nobody was prepared for.”