The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of a German citizen taken hostage in Gaza

The body of German and Israeli citizen Shani Luk, who was taken hostage by Hamas militants, has been found and identified. This was reported by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on X (formerly Twitter).

“We regret to announce that the death of 23-year-old German-Israeli citizen Shani Luk has been confirmed,” the statement said.

The agency said a German woman kidnapped at a music festival was tortured and “exposed in Gaza.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in an interview with the newspaper Die Welt, expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased girl. According to him, the bodies of about 40 more militant victims have not yet been identified.

Earlier today, Shani Luk’s death was confirmed by her mother. “Unfortunately, yesterday we received the news that my daughter is no longer alive,” said Ricarda Luk to NTV TV channel.

After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, a video of a girl with tattoos on her legs lying in a truck went viral. The Bild newspaper wrote that it was Shani Luk, her mother recognized her. Ricarda Luk assumed that Shani had survived but was in serious condition with a head injury in a hospital in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7. The country’s defense army responded by launching Operation Iron Swords. According to the latest data, more than 9,000 people have died as a result of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Gaza reported 8,005 dead in the Israeli strikes, and about 1,400 people were killed in Israel after the group’s attack.

At the end of October, Reuters, citing the Israeli government reportedthat Hamas took 222 people hostage. Among them are 15 Argentines, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, six French and six Russians, as well as 54 Thai citizens. Action notedthat almost 50 hostages were killed as a result of Israeli strikes.