Israel - May 19, 2024

IDF: “8-year-old Ela Elyakim told us that Hamas terrorists forced her to read from a script, forced her to change her clothes, and forced her to re-film this terrifying scene over and over and over again.”

Attached is a statement by the IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, regarding the matter.

Attached is the full transcript of the statement by the IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari:

During our ground operations in Gaza, our troops found raw footage filmed by Hamas for their psychological terror videos.

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 Dafna during the hostage release agreement.

The video, which is being released today for the first time, was intended to be used by Hamas for psychological terror.

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.

8-year-old Ela Elyakim told us that Hamas terrorists forced her to read from a script, forced her to change her clothes, and forced her to re-film this terrifying scene over and over and over again.

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.

We will continue doing everything in our power to bring our hostages back home.