Ricarda Louk, mother of Shani Louk, who was murdered at the Nova music festival at Re'im on October 7, called on the IDF not to endanger soldiers to rescue her daughter's body, which is being held hostage in Gaza
"We are still waiting for Shani's body," she told Israel Hayom. "We don't have a grave. I don't know if the body is still there, or what its condition is. I don't want to endanger a single soldier for the body."
"If the lack of rescue of the body could leave someone alive, leave the body there. We will manage."
"I believe that we need to sacrifice for those who are alive - not for a corpse. But obviously we are making every effort in order to bring her home, for a proper burial. We will give it up to a year from now, and if we don't manage - we will set up a gravesite with what we have right now."
The Louk family were informed of Shani's death at the end of October. Previously, they had been convinced that Shani was alive, based on footage which showed her being dragged naked towards Gaza. However, they later received the bitter news that her body was partially identified, in a way which does not leave room for doubts regarding her fate.
Shani's cousin Ruthi told Ynet, "Yesterday, we received an official notice from the IDF and ZAKA, with a written letter in which it said that a bone from the base of the skull had been found, which had DNA identical to Shani's."
"The doctors have declared that a person cannot live without this bone, and so they have concluded that she is dead. They spoke with two additional experts who confirmed this, as well as with a rabbi."