The mother of a young tattoo artist whose body was paraded through the streets of Gaza says her daughter was “panicked” and was trying to leave an outdoor music festival when Hamas terrorists abducted her during their surprise attack on Israel Saturday morning.
Shani Louk, 23, rushed to leave after Hamas struck the festival near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza Strip, telling her mother that she was headed to her car after rockets began sounding off at about 6 a.m.
“She was panicked a little bit, and she said she was going to take the car now and go to a safe location. And then we stopped talking and since then I didn’t hear anything from her anymore,” her mother Ricarda Louk told CNN.
But as the young Israeli-German citizen tried to flee the chaotic scene, Hamas terrorists blocked her exit.
“She was going to the car and they had militant people standing by the cars and were shooting so people couldn’t reach their cars even to go away and that’s when they took her,” her mother added.
Hours after telling her mother she was leaving, Shani’s family came across the disturbing footage of her seemingly lifeless body lying in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by armed militant men.
The armed men chanted “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is great” — as they paraded Shani’s body around, eventually taking her into the Gaza Strip, the video shows.
The disturbing footage is the last Shani’s family has seen of her, though they remain hopeful she will be found alive.
“Yes it is the last we have seen. We are always looking for more videos, more news, something that shows her in some other places but we cannot really see anything yet,” her mother said.
While they haven’t seen any other videos or images of Shani, her mother said somebody tried to use her credit card in the Gaza Strip several times, though it’s unclear who.
“The video, you know, it looks very bad but I still have hope,” her mother said.
“I hope that they don’t take bodies for negotiations. I hope that she is still alive somewhere. We don’t have anything else to hope for so, we try to believe.”
Shani is a tattoo artist and hairstylist, according to social media accounts that appeared to belong to her.
She was among the hundreds of victims in Israel when Hamas hit the dance party near Kibbutz Urim and other Israeli communities Saturday in a surprise incursion, which quickly became the largest attack on Israel in about 50 years.
The cruel attack in the Jewish state has led to the deaths of over 800 Israelis with more than 2,150 injured and at least 100 more kidnapped.
Hamas terrorists were seen taking female hostages and parading them down the street in horrifying videos shared online
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed his country will take “mighty vengeance for this wicked day.” Israel has already launched devastating retaliatory strikes, killing more than 230 people in the Gaza Strip.