Last moments of young tattoo artist dancing with friends before horror Hamas attack
Shani Louk, 23, was among hundreds of victims at an outdoor music festival near Kibbutz Urim
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A young German tattoo artist was caught dancing and laughing on camera, just hours before she was stripped naked and killed by Hamas militants near the Gaza border.
Shani Louk, 23, was among hundreds of victims at an outdoor music festival near Kibbutz Urim when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the crowds during the early hours of Saturday morning.
In a video posted on social media, Ms Louk can be seen beaming into the camera with her friends, while music blasts in the background at the Supernova trance event.
A short while later, gunmen would send terrified partygoers fleeing into the desert, with Ms Louk becoming caught in the crossfire of the unexpected attack.
A video, too disturbing to be published, later showed her naked body being paraded through the streets on a flat-bed truck, while armed fighters shouted “Allahu Akbar”.
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As her family became aware of Hamas’s attack on Israel, her family desperately attempted to contact her, only to become aware of a video circulating on social media. While the woman is lying face down, her family and friends identified her from her distinctive tattoos and dreadlocks.
Holding a picture of Ms Louk on her mobile phone, her mother Ricarda said that her daughter had been “kidnapped with a group of tourists in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas”.
"We were sent a video in which I could clearly see our daughter unconscious in the car with the Palestinians and them driving around the Gaza Strip," she said. "I ask you to send us any help or news. Thank you very much."
It is currently unknown if Ms Louk is captured or dead, with her cousin Tom Weintraub Louk telling the Washington Post: “We have some kind of hope. Hamas is responsible for her and the others.”
The Palestinian militants have claimed to be holding over 130 captives, while the Israeli forces have placed it at around 100 people.
Other people reported to be held hostage by the Palestinian group include British citizen Jake Marlowe, who was working as a security guard at the festival.
Videos on social media also appeared to show another woman, identified as Israeli Noa Argamani, being kidnapped and taken on a motorbike by two men.
The Israeli authorities said that around 260 people had been killed at the music event, while many were still missing while the rescue service Zaka said it had retrieved hundreds of bodies.
The country’s defence minister Yoav Gallant has officially announced the blockade of the besieged enclave, saying authorities will cut electricity and prevent the entry of food and fuel.
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