Israel-Hamas war: Israeli hostage Shani Louk's body recovered. Who was she?

The Israeli military said on Friday (May 17) that it found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its unprecedented attack on October 7 last year. The hostageswere identifiedasShani Louk, 22,Amit Buskila, 28, andItzhak Gelerenter, 56. Addressing a press conference, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson DanielHagari said the hostageswere killedby Hamas while fleeing the Nova music festival.

At the same festival, hundreds of other peoplewere killedby the Palestinian militant group. The IDF said that the bodies were found overnight, without elaborating, and did not give immediate details on where theywere located.

A report by the Times of Israel on Friday said that until recently, Buskila and Gelerenterwere presumedto be alive, whileLouk was confirmed dead in late October aftera piece of her skull was identified.

Who was Shani Louk?

Louk was born in 2001 and was of Israeli and German descent. She worked as a tattoo artistand gone toattendthe Nova music festival in southern Israel when Hamas militants attacked the event.

According to the Israeli foreign ministry, Loukwas kidnapped at the festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by the Palestinian militants. The ministry added that the 22-year-old experienced unfathomable horrors.

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A video of Hamas militants kidnapping Louk went viral on social media. The video appeared to showLoukunconscious on the back of a Hamas truck. Israeli authorities discovered her body in late October.

In a post on X, the foreign ministry said that it was devastated to share the news thatLouk'sbody wasfound and identified.

'Abeautiful, lively person'

Speaking to CNN,Louk'smotherRicardasaid on October 31 last year that her daughter was a beautiful, lively person whoenjoyed laughing and experiencing life. Ricardasaidthat the 22-year-old"was going to her carandthey had military people standing by the cars and were shooting so peoplecouldn’treach their cars, even to go away. Andthat’swhen they took her."

Ricarda also said she had hopes that her daughter would come back.“After the video, you sawthat,it’simpossible to see ifshe’salive or dead. It wasvery scary, and we werevery worried,”she further told CNN.

(With inputs from agencies)