Shani Louk's Final Moments Detailed by Festival-goer

A woman who witnessed the final moments of Israeli-German festival-goer Shani Louk has spoken out about the ordeal.

Louk, 23, was one of the attendees at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering festival in southern Israel that was attacked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7. Louk was confirmed dead by Israeli officials and her family this week. While her body has not been recovered, a bone fragment from her skull was found at the festival site and confirmed to be hers by a DNA test.

While how Louk died is unknown, a fellow festival-goer described the moment she saw Louk before she died. Roni Roman said on German political talk show Hart Aber Fair (Hard But Fair): "We saw her bleeding. We saw that she had a head injury. We saw these people [Hamas] around her being happy and cheering and singing that she was hurting. And it's just unbelievable to realize that this was her last moment in this world."

Whether Louk was dead or alive had been widely speculated after a video emerged on social media showing what is allegedly Louk's body face-down and half-naked in a pick-up while being paraded through Gaza. It has not been confirmed whether Louk died at the festival site or elsewhere.

A clip of Israeli President Isaac Herzog confirming her death was posted on Israel's official X, formerly Twitter, feed. He said she had been confirmed as "murdered, dead." He also said her skull had been found, "which means these barbaric, sadistic animals simply chopped off her head." Newsweek was unable to verify if Louk was beheaded and has reached out to Herzog's press team via phone for clarification.

Israel posted the video with the caption: "There are no words. May Shani's memory be a blessing."

After her death of her daughter was confirmed, Louk's mother, Ricarda, told CNN: "She was a beautiful, lively person. She just enjoyed laughing, and experiencing life, and so it was just cut too short."

Describing her experience since the October 7 attack, Louk's mother added: "After three weeks that you have no idea where your daughter is, what they're doing to her....You don't know if she's alive or not, or injured, nothing. It's just like you're in a vacuum for three weeks, just hoping to get some signs. And then suddenly you get the worst news. We always had hopes. We were optimistic that she would come back."

Louk's brother, Amit, told Sky News that he heard from his sister during the attack on the festival.

"She said we're leaving right now, don't worry," he said of their last conversation. But "the terrorists were waiting in the road."

Paying tribute to his sister, he said: "She loved music. She loved tattoos. She was an artistic person by nature. In the way she was talking and the way she was moving. In the way she danced. There was no dark side, only pure angel."

At least 260 people were killed at the festival while others were taken captive and moved to the Gaza Strip. The attack was part of a wider incursion launched by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

Israel's military since has killed more than 9,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

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