Killing of Shani Louk | |
---|---|
Part of Re'im music festival massacre | |
Location | Near Re'im, Israel |
Date | 7 October 2023 |
Victim | Shani Louk, aged 22 |
Burial | Body missing (bone fragment found) |
Perpetrator | Hamas members |
On 7 October 2023, during the Re'im music festival massacre, Shani Nicole Louk (Hebrew : שני ניקול לוק), a 22-year-old German-Israeli tattoo artist and influencer, was killed. Shortly after the attack, a video circulated showing her body paraded through the streets of Gaza by Hamas militants in the back of a pickup truck. Described by security experts and commentators as Hamas's social media propaganda, it became one of the first viral videos of the Israel–Hamas war. The globally-seen [1] images turned into a visual emblem of militants' conduct toward civilians in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. [lower-alpha 1] [3] [4]
Attention was also brought to Louk's case through the campaign of her family, which began with her mother Ricarda saying that she had received information that Louk was alive and in a Gaza hospital. She appealed to the German government and received responses from top-ranking German officials. German authorities considered Louk to be among their nationals taken hostage during the war. [5] At the end of the month, Israel confirmed Louk's death based on the discovery of a skull fragment on a road leading out of the festival grounds, suggesting that she was killed during the attack. [6]
Shani Louk was born on 7 February 2001 in Israel [7] [8] [9] to an Israeli father and German mother, Ricarda Louk, who had lived in Ravensburg, Germany, and moved to Israel in the early 1990s. [10] Louk and her family moved to Portland, Oregon, U.S., in the early 2000s, and she attended kindergarten at Portland Jewish Academy. [11]
Louk later became a resident of Tel Aviv, [10] where she worked as a freelance tattoo artist, [12] [13] [14] and also had a following as an Instagram influencer. [14] [15] [16] According to Louk's aunt, she held pacifist views and obtained an exemption from military service in Israel, allegedly facilitated by her dual citizenship. [17]
On 7 October 2023, as a component of the initial incursion in the Israel–Hamas war, Hamas militants crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and carried out a massacre at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering music festival. [18] [19] [20] The event was an open-air psychedelic trance festival, conciding with the final day of Sukkot (6 October) [18] and Simchat Torah (7 October), [21] and took place in the western Negev desert, [20] approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) from the Gaza–Israel barrier, near the Re'im kibbutz. [18] [22]
Louk was at the festival, accompanied by her boyfriend, a Mexican citizen. [23] [lower-alpha 2] After the Red Color rocket warning alarm was sounded, [22] and the attack began, Louk talked on the phone with her mother, saying that there were few places to hide and that she would try to find one. [25] [26] She went missing afterwards. [27]
Hours later that day, a video emerged showing Louk's body, [28] [29] [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] partially clothed, with a significant head injury and blood-matted hair, being paraded in the streets of Gaza City by Hamas militants in the back of a pickup truck; they were exclaiming "Allahu Akbar", and were joined in the cheers by the people in the crowd surrounding the vehicle, some of whom spat on the body. [33] [22] [34] [35] The video went viral, [36] [37] [3] becoming one of the first viral videos of the Israel–Hamas war. [36] It was released in a wave of videos of Hamas members parading hostages and bodies. [38] [39] [40] Photographs were also taken and circulated on the internet. [29]
According to security experts interviewed by Agence France-Presse, the release of the video, along with other videos showing dead or captured civilians, has the character of deliberate and sophisticated propaganda aimed to induce feelings of "helplessness, paralysis, and humiliation" in the population, and that viral spread of such materials causes amplification of narratives desirable to Hamas. [41] In a New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof discussed the video as an example of the causes of psychological trauma and anger experienced within Jewish communities in the aftermath of the attacks. [42] According to commentator Bobby Ghosh, Hamas released propaganda videos quickly, wanting to be the first to score psychological warfare gains; however, the video showing Louk did not demoralize Israeli society, and instead her "treatment at the hands of [her] captors drew widespread revulsion and reprobation, and if anything, strengthened Israeli resolve to exact retribution." [43]
Despite Hamas being banned on Twitter as a terrorist organization, some of its propaganda videos have circulated there after being reposted from other platforms. [44] Journalists discussed the video showing Louk together with other Hamas-related content that was being shared, in the context of the European Commission's warning to Twitter owner Elon Musk about permitting spread of illegal content. [45] [46] [47] On 12 October, the European Commission initiated an investigation against Twitter for dissemination of "violent and terrorist content" and other forms of illegal content. [48] [49]
Prior to the scene from the viral video, as the pickup truck was returning to Gaza Strip, it was photographed by an Associated Press freelance photojournalist. [50] [51] The image, showing the vehicle carrying Louk's body and the attackers, was included (and featured as the first) in the series of 20 photographs from the war taken by the Associated Press's team of photographers which won the "Team Picture Story of the Year" prize at the 2024 Pictures of the Year International competition. [52] [51] [53]
From early on, there were media reports that Louk had been killed, describing the video as depicting her lifeless body. [54] [55] According to The Times of Israel , "it seemed likely at the time that Louk was no longer alive." [56] Members of Louk's family believed that she was still alive, and her mother, Ricarda Louk, appealed to the German government for help. [57] [58] Ricarda said that she had received information, through a friend with a contact in Gaza, [59] that Louk was receiving treatment at a hospital in Gaza for a serious head injury and was in critical condition. [60] [33] A later report by Human Rights Watch stated that it was due to the footage that the family believed that Louk had suffered her head injury. [61] Ricarda received a bank notification that Louk's credit card had been used on 8 October near Indonesia Hospital in Gaza. [58]
In the following weeks, Louk's friends and family members participated in a public campaign to influence the government to treat the rescue of hostages during the invasion of the Gaza Strip as the highest priority. [62] On 13 October, during her visit to Israel, German minister for foreign affairs Annalena Baerbock met with Ricarda and family members of abductees with German citizenship. After the meeting, Ricarda spoke at a press conference saying that German-Israeli citizens will receive support from Germany, and that the German government is "really serious" and "trying to find solutions". Baerbock said that Germany is "in communications with all actors who have contact with Hamas" in order to send a message that the hostages must be freed. [63] Members of the families, Louk included, subsequently met with German chancellor Olaf Scholz during his 17 October solidarity visit to Israel. [64] The German authorities had counted Louk as one of their nationals taken hostage during the war, [65] and many were erroneously believing that she had been abducted. [66]
Louk's father, Nissim Louk, participated in the campaign less conspicuously, not wanting to draw attention to his military and intelligence background. He travelled to the United States where he talked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and also with U.S. senators. [67]
On 30 October 2023, the German and Israeli governments confirmed Louk's death. Forensic examiners found the petrous part of the temporal bone from her skull on a road leading out of the festival grounds, [59] [62] with her DNA. [68] [69] [70] Dislodgement of this bone is indicative of death, according to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute. [71] Israel considers her to have been killed before her body was transported to Gaza. [72] In response to the new information, Focus wrote that it became certain that she was killed during the massacre. [73] The rest of her body has not been found, [74] [75] precluding funeral. [76] Nevertheless, the family sat shiva , [56] during which their home was visited by around 4,000 people in expression of solidarity, according to Ricarda. [77]
Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, told the German tabloid Bild that Louk had been "decapitated"; [78] his spokesperson corrected this, saying that "the fact that a significant part of her skull was found triggered fears that she had been decapitated." [79] [80] [81] Regardless, the false report spread on social media and was repeated in several German politicians' statements. [80]
Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin is a Sunni Islamist Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip and the Sinai peninsula, and is the branch of al-Qaeda in Gaza. The establishment of the group was publicly announced on 6 November 2008, with communiqués vowing loyalty to al-Qaeda, after having "received the messages of Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri." Various forms of the "Tawhid al-Jihad" label have appeared in relation to developments in the Gaza Strip. The size of the group is not publicly known.
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Das Video der schwer verletzten Shani Louk erlangte im Internet große Bekanntheit. (transl. The video of seriously injured Shani Louk became widely known on the Internet.)
Il était le petit ami de Shani Louk, cette germano-israélienne dont l'image du corps mutilé exposé à l'arrière d'un pick-up par des membres du Hamas est devenue le symbole des horreurs des attaques du 7 octobre. (transl. He was Shani Louk's boyfriend, the German-Israeli; the image of her mutilated body exposed in the back of a pickup truck by Hamas members became a symbol of the horrors of the October 7 attacks)
Es folgt eine Aufnahme des deutschen Reisepasses der Tochter: Shani Nicole Louk, geboren am 7. Februar 2001 (transl. Below is a photo of the daughter's German passport: Shani Nicole Louk, born on 7 February 2001)
Die Familie hat die junge Frau auf dem Video erkannt, ein Ex-Freund von Shani Louk hat es ihnen zugeschickt. ... Die 22-Jährige lebt allein in Tel Aviv... (transl. The family recognized the young woman in the video; an ex-boyfriend of Shani Louk sent it to them. ... The 22-year-old lives alone in Tel Aviv...)
Who is Shani Louk, the young German influencer who was murdered by Hamas in Israel
In the video, the woman is facedown in the bed of the truck with four militants, apparently being paraded through Gaza. One holds her hair while another raises a gun in the air and shouts, "Allahu akbar!" A crowd follows the truck cheering. A boy spits in her hair.
Bilder und Videos, die im Internet kursierten, zeigten demnach den leblosen Körper der jungen Frau auf einem Pick-up. (transl. Pictures and videos circulating on the Internet showed the young woman's lifeless body on a pickup truck.)
The mother of German-Israeli national Shani Louk, who was seen unconscious at the festival in a video authenticated by CNN, said, "I still have hope."
Another video appeared to show a partygoer, reported to be Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli dual national, being paraded through the streets of Gaza. CNN said it had verified a video showing her being driven in a truck guarded by a man carrying a rocket-propelled grenade, while another held her by the hair.
In video footage that emerged subsequently, she was seen lying seemingly unconscious, face down in the back of a pick-up truck in Gaza that was full of jeering Hamas militants.... a man pulled her hair while another, outside the truck, spat on her head.
A video emerged of Shani Louk, 23, lifeless in the back of a truck, spat upon by Hamas fighters, legs unnaturally bent and her hair matted with blood.
Auf diesem Ausschnitt ist deutlich eine stark blutende Wunde am Kopf der Getöteten zu erkennen. Es erscheint kaum vorstellbar, dass sie diese tiefe Wunde in der Schädeldecke lange überleben konnte. (transl. In this clip one can clearly see a heavily bleeding wound on the victim's head. It seems hard to imagine that she was able to survive this deep wound to her cranial roof for long.)
Louk is seen motionless in the video.One gunman, carrying a rocket propelled grenade, has his leg draped over her waist; the other holds a clump of her dreadlocks. "Allahu Akbar," they cheer – "God is Great," in Arabic.Some of the crowd gathered around the truck, just outside of the Al-Shalfoh bakery and grocery store, join in the cheers. One man spits on Louk's head as the car drives off.
Die letzte wirkliche Spur, die ihre Eltern von Shani haben, ist das Video, das kurz darauf um die Welt gegangen ist: Shani, scheinbar leblos auf der Ladefläche eines Pick-ups der Hamas, beinahe nackt, das rechte Bein unnatürlich abgewinkelt. Männer um sie herum brüllen "Allahu Akbar", "Gott ist groß", einer zieht an Shanis Haaren. Ein Jugendlicher spuckt ihr auf den Kopf. (transl. The last real trace their parents have of Shani is the video that went around the world shortly afterwards: Shani, apparently lifeless on the loading area of a pick-up from Hamas, almost naked, the right leg unnaturally angled. Men around them roar "Allahu Akbar", "God is great", one pulls on Shani's hair. A teenager spits on her head.)
In video authenticated and geolocated by CNN, Shani can be seen unconscious in the back of a vehicle, being paraded around Gaza. One gunman, carrying a rocket propelled grenade, has his leg draped over her waist; the other holds a clump of her dreadlocks. "Allahu Akbar," they cheer — "God is Great," in Arabic.
Hamas operatives are seen celebrating and cheering in the pickup truck in which they had placed Louk's body, which was contorted in an unnatural angle, while Palestinians surrounding the truck shouted, "Allahu Akbar" [God is greatest in Arabic]. Two of the men spit on her.
In the video, Louk is seen motionless. One gunman, carrying a rocket propelled grenade, has his leg draped over her waist; the other holds a clump of her dreadlocks. "Allahu Akbar," they cheer – meaning "God is great" in Arabic.Some of the crowd gathered around the truck join in the cheers. One man spits on Louk's head as the car drives off.
[V]ideo shows a woman, later identified by her family as 22-year-old Shani Louk, stripped down to her underwear and lying face down in a truck, her legs twisted at unnatural angles. Hamas gunmen sit on her body, and bystanders spit on it.
In videos from 7 October, the body of a young woman is lying face down in the back of a pickup truck, stripped to her underwear, one leg bent at an unnatural angle. One of the men sitting next to her pulls her long hair as armed men around him shout praises to God. Footage of the lifeless corpse of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old Israeli-German national, paraded around the streets of Gaza was some of the first to surface on 7 October, ...
One of the first viral videos of the conflict on Saturday appeared to show Shani being paraded on the back of a truck by Hamas militants ...
A video of a barely covered young woman with dreadlocks on the back of a pickup truck surrounded by Hamas soldiers went viral on social media.
Unconfirmed reports from Gaza indicated that several Israelis had been taken there, and it was not known whether they were alive. Video appeared to show captured people — both dead and alive — and military vehicles.
Hamas gunmen dragged off dozens of Israeli civilian and military hostages, with some paraded through the streets of Gaza in front of crowds of cheering Palestinians. The naked body of a woman was seen being driven in the back of a pick-up truck. In video footage too graphic to publish, men and young boys are seen spitting on her body.
Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas militants abducted and killed Shani Louk, a 30-year-old German-Israeli citizen who was attending the festival. They paraded her naked body around in a pick-up truck as supporters chanted "Allahu akbar."
In a few cases, forensic workers have been able to determine from recovered bone fragments that people assumed to be hostages were actually deceased.That's how Israeli authorities came to declare Louk dead, after recovering the sliver of her skull. The rest of her body appears to be held by Hamas, according to a video released by militants.
Seit Montag ist es traurige Gewissheit: Die 22-jährige Deutsch-Israelin Shani Louk ist tot. Lange hoffte die Welt, die junge Frau aus den Händen der Hamas-Terroristen zu befreien. Doch nun ist klar: Shani wurde Opfer des Massakers, ... transl. Since Monday it has been a sad certainty: The 22-year-old German-Israeli Shani Louk is dead. For a long time, the world hoped to free the young woman from the hands of the Hamas terrorists. But now it is clear: Shani was a victim of the massacre...