According to her mother, the German Shani Louk, who was abducted by Hamas, is alive. “We now have further information that Shani is alive but has serious head injuries,” says Ricarda Louk in a video message that ARD published on Tuesday afternoon. Your daughter is in a “critical situation”. “We demand that the German government act quickly (…) to get Shani out of the Gaza Strip.” According to information from the “Tagesschau”, the abducted woman is in a hospital in Gaza.
The 22-year-old has been missing since the weekend. She had celebrated at a festival in southern Israel that was attacked by terrorists after the Hamas attack. More than 250 people were murdered there and several were kidnapped. In a video distributed by the terrorist organization, Shani Louk can be seen half-naked in the back of a speeding pickup truck filled with terrorists, apparently at least unconscious. Her mother recognized her in the photo, among other things, by her tattoos.
There are fears that Hamas wants to use its hostages to exchange them for prisoners of Israel or even use them as human shields or kill them in the event of an Israeli ground offensive.
The Foreign Office in Berlin confirmed that there were Germans among the people kidnapped from Israel by Hamas. No information was provided about numbers or identities – also to protect those affected. It was said that the next steps would be “coordinated very closely with the Israeli authorities.” German or Israeli authorities have not yet released any further information about Shani Louk’s fate.
The Federal Prosecutor General is now also investigating members of Hamas because of the murder and kidnapping of German citizens.
Sources: ARD “Tagesschau”, news agencies AFP and DPA
