"It's good that they finally gave us a definitive answer, there's some comfort in that," said Nissim Louk, father of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen who on Monday was confirmed to have been murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7. "At least I know she's not tossed in some Gaza tunnel," he told Ynet.
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Shani, a 23-year-old tattoo artist, was among the high-profile kidnapping cases following the Hamas massacre. Born in Germany, she was raised in Israel. She attended the Nova music festival at Kibbutz Re'im and was captured in videos, dancing and enjoying herself before the attack.
Footage released by Hamas on the day of the attack showed her lifeless body in the back of a Hamas pickup truck, with a group of men mistreating it.
Louk's parents were informed of her death following a forensic examination of the remains found after the massacre. Louk's cousin Ruthie told Ynet they were told by authorities that a bone from the base of a skull was found that matched Shani's DNA and that doctors determined that a person could not live without this bone, leading them to conclude that she had passed away.
"Shani was a beautiful girl who loved to dance. Everyone loved her," her father said. "She was very smart and witty. That's how I want her to be remembered."
He said that the images from her abduction sparked hope at first that she might be injured but still alive and in captivity. A German source even reported that she was being treated in a Gaza hospital, sharing a clip of a local nurse asking, "what's happening with the German beauty?" However, these hopes were sadly in vain, as the military later confirmed she had died before even reaching Gaza.
"Show no mercy. No proportional response should be considered. They must pay a million times worse, which is the only way to get deterrence," Nissim said.
"It's been excellent on the civilian side. The Israeli people have a good heart and a sense of community, but our government has been MIA for the past 20 years," he said. "If the prime minister were to show up at my house, I'd tell him to leave, since he bears much responsibility for what happened."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday said news of Louk's murder was devastating. "This news shows the barbarism of Hamas which must be brought to justice," he said. "What we saw on the Gaza border was beyond a pogrom. We saw a slaughterhouse."