Israel Releases VIdeo A Girl And Her Brother Who Was Taken Hostage, Promises To Eliminate Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/PHOTO via Instagram @b.netanyahu

JAKARTA - Israel released a video of an 8-year-old boy, Ella Elyakim, and his 15-year-old sister, Dafna, being held hostage by Hamas.

The two were kidnapped from their home in Nahal Oz on October 7 by Hamas.

For 51 days, they were held hostage, terrorized and exploited by Hamas terrorists. In this video, Ella talks while staring into the eyes of a terrorist standing behind the camera, forced to re-record several times.

The '128 hostages are still in Gaza. We will not stop operating against Hamas in Gaza until they all return home," the IDF statement said Monday, May 20.

Earlier, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Israel could only recover from the October 7 incident after the kidnapped hostages were released from detention.

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel's southern region on October 7, 2023. Israel said, as a result of the attack, about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others held hostage by militant groups.

"This recovery, which is important for all of us, as a nation and a country, is not only about looking at our future and development, but also about improving the present," he said, quoted by The Times of Israel May 14.

"And our gifts will not be intact, our wounds will not heal, until all the hostages return, our dear brothers and sisters, who are in trouble and prisoners," President Herzog continued.