Montana Tucker and The Children of October 7

It’s not easy to see the horrors that children experienced on October 7, 2023—the day Hamas launched a horrific and brutal attack on innocent Israelis. But it’s imperative to bear witness. On that devastating day, 37 children were murdered in cold blood, and 36 more were taken hostage into Gaza.

The Children of October 7 (presented by MTV Documentary Films) includes testimonies from eight of the children whose lives will never be the same. Montana Tucker, social media activist and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, is a compassionate guide to help them share their stories, a delicate endeavor that needed to be handled with care.

Ella Shani was 14 years old on October 7. With Montana by her side, she walked through her father’s home, climbing up to the attic where he hid. There, next to his blood stains on the floor, she read aloud the emotional message she sent to her father the day she found out he was murdered. Ella says she wants to start processing what happened, but her brain won’t let her.

“I think what I miss most about him is his laugh,” she says, “because he had such a special laugh.”

Yael Idan was 11 years old on October 7. When terrorists infiltrated her home, she hid under her bed with her sister, Maayan. Maayan went to help her father hold the door of the safe room, trying to keep the terrorists at bay. She was murdered.

Yael Idan

Yael and her mother were taken into the kitchen where terrorists used her mother’s phone to film them on Facebook livestream. She then saw her father, Tzahi, have his hands tied behind his back before he was driven off in a car and taken into Gaza. Yael explains, “It’s like everything that feels safe for you wasn’t safe anymore.”

Five months after filming concluded, Yael learned her father was murdered in captivity.

Alona & Yella Rousso were 11 and 9 years old on October 7. They recall their father receiving a message indicating terrorists were in the kibbutz—he immediately went out, his first instinct to protect his family and their community. The girls stayed in the safe room the entire day. Their father, murdered by terrorists, never returned. They have dreams that their father comes back—when they try to hug him, he disappears.

Rotem Mathias was 16 years old on October 7. He hid in his bedroom (the safe room) with his parents, his mother lying on top of him. Terrorists entered the room, shooting automatic weapons. They threw a grenade and his dad screamed that he lost his arm. He saw his father fall over and knew his mother was dead immediately. He remembers, “When they leave, they laugh. After they killed my parents.”

Rotem waited under his mother’s dead body for about 45 minutes, when he noticed smoke in his room and decided he needed to move. It was only then that he realized he’d been shot. He made it to an external laundry room, where he hid for about three hours. He heard people walk over speaking in Arabic, including one person right behind him. He thought he was going to die.

Later, when he was sure nobody was in the house, he sent a voice message to his family’s group chat: “Now I can actually say that Mom and Dad aren’t alive. I’m so so sorry.”

Montana asked Rotem what kept him going. He said, “My parents saved me. They gave me literally a second chance at life. And to me it would be disrespectful if I just wasted it. I would’ve definitely died if it wasn’t for her and my dad.”

Yael and Eitan Yahalomi were 10 and 12 years old on October 7. They were taken hostage and transported on motorcycles towards Gaza, along with their mother and younger sister. Their father, Ohad, was left wounded at their house and would be taken to Gaza by another group of terrorists later that day.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Montana Tucker (@montanatucker)

Yael and her mother and sister were on a motorcycle that broke down—they fell off in a field. Yael recounts, “We got away. We walked four hours, barefoot.” They had to stop so her little sister could rest, when they encountered more terrorists. They pretended to be dead. She says of the experience, “I thought it was a dream.”

Eitan was on a different motorcycle, alone.

Eitan: “When I got to Gaza there were about 40 people outside waiting for us. We heard gunfire and yelling in Arabic, then they hit me.”

Montana: “Who was hitting you? Were they just normal citizens in Gaza? Were they Hamas? Do you know who they were?”

Eitan: “Civilians.”

Montana: “Were you scared?”

Eitan: “I was. I was completely alone.”

Montana: “Did they tell you what was happening in Israel?”

Eitan: “Yes, they showed me videos of them killing people. They were happy.”

Montana: “And did you try to look away?”

Eitan: “No because he wouldn’t let me. And I saw worse things. I saw them actually happening.”

Amit Cohen was 12 years old on October 7. He and Eitan Yahalomi are friends. Terrorists shot through his safe room door, wounding his father and their dog. Then they set the house on fire. His father opened the safe room window and told them, “Run as fast as you can.”

Footage shows Amit holding posters of Eitan and Ohad—one child advocating for the release of another, his friend, from the hands of Hamas terrorists. Heavy with emotions he says, “I want to see them back home. I have nothing more to say, I just want to see them again”

Eitan was released in a temporary ceasefire agreement after 52 days in captivity. Montana asked him what his first feeling was when he arrived home. “Relief,” he says.

Eitan’s sister, Yael, tells Montana that she asked him if he’s okay. “He said he’s not okay.”

“It’s in my mind all the time,” Eitan says.

Five months after filming concluded, Eitan and Yael learned their father, Ohad, was murdered in captivity.

Montana asks, “After everything you’ve been through, do you feel stronger? Do you feel more resilient?”

“I do things that I wouldn’t do before and I’m less afraid,” Eitan replied.

“How do you think it made you less scared?”

“That I had been through the worst and that’s it.”

These children should be thinking about finishing their homework and hanging out with their friends—instead they’re trying to process atrocities most of us can’t even imagine.

One thing struck me as I was hearing their stories. As each child was introduced, their age was given—not their current age at the time of filming, but the age they were on October 7, 2023. It’s as though they are frozen in time, having experienced a trauma so great that it will forever be the most significant mark on the timeline of their lives.

I pray that it won’t be.

I pray that time will heal their wounds.

I pray going forward they will know only love, not hate.

I pray they will experience simcha after simcha to outweigh these horrors.

I pray they may find peace, in every sense of the word.

I pray that the story of their lives won’t be one of trauma and pain, but one of resilience and strength. Because that’s who we are—that’s the story of our people.

I pray they will be okay.