The foreign ministries of Israel and Germany on Monday confirmed the death of a dual national taken hostage by Palestinian movement Hamas in the initial phase of hostilities.
"We have to confirm the death of another German citizen in accordance with the information available to us," a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at a televised cabinet briefing, without disclosing the name.
Immediately after this statement, the broadcast was briefly suspended to prevent confidential data from going public.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog identified the victim as Louk in an interview with German broadcaster Welt, saying she had been "beheaded." The Israeli president expressed his condolences to the young woman's family. The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed this information.
"We are devastated to share that the death of 23 year old German-Israeli Shani Luk was confirmed," the ministry wrote on X.
The 22-year old was a dual German-Israeli citizen, residing in Israel. Her story attracted the attention of the world's media after her mother recognized her on footage released by Hamas. Louk's mother recorded a video address, asking the German authorities to get her daughter out of the Gaza Strip and bring her back home. On the video published by Hamas, a young girl is lying face down in a pickup trunk, held down by Hamas militants, with her legs unnaturally twisted. The mother recognized her by tattoos on her legs.
On 7 October, Hamas launched a large-scale surprise rocket attack from Gaza into Israel, breaching the border and killing and abducting people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip.