IDF discovers Hamas propaganda video of 2 Israelis sisters abducted on Oct 7
Footage from before the sisters were released in November hostage deal
The IDF announced on Sunday it had discovered a video filmed by Hamas showing two Israeli girls who were kidnapped to Gaza during the terror group's invasion and brutal attack last October.
The two sisters – Ela (8) and Dana (15) Elyakim – were abducted from their father’s home in Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, where they had gone to spend Simchat Torah.
The girls' father, Noam Elyakim, his partner Dikla Arava, and her son Tomer were all murdered by Hamas terrorists during the massacre. Noam was originally taken captive with the girls, however, he was wounded in the leg. At some point after exiting Nahal Oz, he was killed and his body was discovered later.
Ela and Dana's mother, Maayan Zin, who lives in central Israel and was not with her daughters at the time, learned that the girls were captured after Palestinian terrorists released a video of the attack and posted it on Facebook Live.
In the video, the family could be seen, frightened and sitting in a corner of the living room before the abduction of the girls and the killing of Noam, Dikla, and Tomer.
The girls were released from captivity on Nov. 26, as part of the hostage release ceasefire deal.
“During our ground operations in Gaza, our troops found raw footage filmed by Hamas for their psychological terror videos,” IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari said in the announcement.
“Today, we showed the footage to the family of 8-year-old Ela Elyakim, who was taken hostage into Gaza on October 7th. Ela was released from Hamas captivity together with her sister Dana during the hostage release agreement.”
Hagari emphasized the video was intended to be used by Hamas for psychological terror.
In the video, the two sisters are shown standing next to a Hamas flag, with Ela repeating the phrase, "I am Ela Elyakim, I am Noam's daughter, I am 8 years old and am a hostage of Hamas," several times.
Ela later said she was forced to repeat her lines multiple times, and forced to change into different clothes several times until the Hamas captors were satisfied.
“Ela’s family asked us to share it [the video] with the world to expose Hamas's terror, to expose Hamas's cruelty, to expose Hamas's barbarism,” Hagari said.
“Our hearts go out to Ela, her family, and all the hostage families. Please help us respect the wishes of Ela’s family by sharing this video far and wide.”
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
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