The father of a 23-year-old German-Israeli woman who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival by Hamas militants on October 7 has shared his grief after it was confirmed his daughter had been found dead.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said on Monday that the body of 23-year-old German-Israeli Shani Louk was found and identified.
Louk was attending the festival in southern Israel on October 7 when Hamas breached the border between Gaza and Israel.
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However, Louk’s hearbroken father Nissim Louk says her daughter was enjoying herself “until the last moment”.
“Until about 6.45pm, Shani was still dancing, cheering, and going wild at the party and was surrounded by all her best friends — and they had fun all night,” he told Israeli news outlet, N12.
“She was killed on the spot and not only did she not suffer, 10 minutes earlier she was still enjoying herself.”
Louk added the Hamas attack was a failure of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“The government ministries all failed. They underestimated everyone, they don’t work, they don’t answer, they’re not normal,” he said.
“If the prime minister were to show up at my house, I’d tell him to leave, since he bears much responsibility for what happened”.
Louk was kidnapped at the festival and “tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists”, the foreign ministry said, adding that she “experienced unfathomable horrors”.
“May her memory be a blessing,” the statement said.
Militants blocked off the road to the festival from the north and the south during their October 7 attack, before swarming the sprawling site on foot, videos from the site showed.
They then encircled the crowds on three sides, gunning them down and forcing them to flee over fields to the east.
Ricarda Louk, Shani’s mother, told CNN earlier this month that she last spoke to her daughter after hearing rockets and alarms sounding in southern Israel, calling to see if she’d made it to a secure location.
Shani told her mother she was at the festival with few places to hide.
“She was going to her car and they had military people standing by the cars and were shooting so people couldn’t reach their cars, even to go away. And that’s when they took her,” Ricarda told CNN.
More than 260 bodies were found at the Nova festival site itself, according to Israeli rescue service Zaka but, based on CNN’s analysis, the total death toll could be even higher.
A number of hostages were also taken back to Gaza.
The latest figure of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in the enclave is up to 239, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Sunday.
A female Israeli soldier who had been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 was released during ground operations in Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces said Monday.
The IDF added that “the soldier was medically checked, is doing well, and has met with her family”.
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