Israel Defense Forces released Sunday raw video footage it says its troops recovered in Gaza that shows former Israeli hostages 8-year-old Ela Elyakim and her 15-year-old sister Dafna Elyakim being forced by Hamas terrorists to film repeatedly.
“The video, which is being released today for the first time was intended to be used by Hamas for psychological terror,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said in a statement. “But Ela’s family asked us to share it with the world to expose Hamas’s terror, to expose Hamas’s cruelty, to expose Hamas’s barbarism.”
Hagari said the raw footage of the girls recording the video was recovered by IDF troops during Israel’s ground operations in Gaza.
The Elyakim sisters were kidnapped on Oct. 7 from their father’s house in Nahal Oz, according to the IDF. Their father was killed in the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, according to the IDF.
Ela and Dafana Elyakim were held hostage for 51 days before Hamas released them in a previous hostage deal, the IDF said.
Ela Elyakim told IDF officials that Hamas terrorists forced her to read from a script and made her change clothes multiple times as they refilmed the video over and over, according to Hagari.
“We will continue doing everything in our power to bring our hostages back home,” said Hagari.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
