Doting father of kidnapped Emily Hand vows to make her better as he reveals his daughter spent her ninth birthday running from missile strikes in Gaza
The father of a young girl held hostage by Hamas for 50 days has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to help his daughter recover after revealing how she spent her ninth birthday fleeing rocket attacks in Gaza.
Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped and presumed dead when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, massacring 1,200 people and capturing another 240.
Her father Tom Hand had to wait two days for news after armed men stormed the kibbutz where she was staying for a sleepover at her friend’s house.
When he was wrongly told that her body had been found, he welcomed the news saying it was better than her being held hostage during the barbaric attack on the Be’eri Kibbutz.
But little Emily survived and was one of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals released late Saturday evening as part of a deal in which Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners in return.
About 60 Israelis have now been released under the terms of an initial four-day ceasefire, which was extended to six days, including a fifth group of hostages released by Hamas last night.
Israeli negotiators are offering Hamas a three-day ceasefire until Sunday morning in exchange for the release of all remaining women and children they are holding captive, sources close to the Qatar talks told The Times.
Four days after his daughter’s emotional release, Mr. Hand said The sun: ‘She was a happy, noisy child, now she whispers. She’s being terrorized by terrorists in hell, but as her father, it’s my job to make things better, and I will.”
Emily Hand (pictured after her release with father Tom Hand), an Irish-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped and presumed dead when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7
Emily (pictured) survived and was part of a group of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals who were released late Saturday evening as part of a deal in which Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners in return.
This is the moving moment when Emily is reunited with her father after 50 days in captivity
Mr Hand revealed his daughter lost more than half a stone while being held captive.
The first thing she asked for after her release was her phone so she could watch a video of her favorite pop star Beyonce.
Mr. Hand has promised to do “whatever it takes to get Emily back to where she was.”
Emotional images were shared over the weekend of Emily being reunited with her dad and big sister.
Mr Hand said she ran to him and hugged her in shock as she thought he had also been kidnapped.
His ex-wife Narkis, 52, was killed on October 7 when 400 Hamas terrorists rampaged through the Be’eri kibbutz near Gaza.
Mr. Hand said he, his son and daughter mourned both Emily and Narkis because they believed the little girl was dead.
He further believed that she would be better off dead than kidnapped by Hamas, but added that he was grateful that she was alive.
Emily is taken to safety by armed Hamas terrorists after being moved from safe house to safe house
This is the moment when Emily Hand is reunited with her big sister Natali. She looked nervous and traumatized when she was returned
Emily (pictured), who returned pale and thin, is still in a state of shock and is being cared for by specialists at a hospital near Tel Aviv
Since her release, Emily has told her father little about conditions in captivity in Gaza, which she now calls “the box,” but said that “no one hit her.”
Mr Hand revealed that Emily was not – as believed – being held in the horrific Hamas tunnels.
Instead, she was moved from safe house to safe house at the height of Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza.
Mr Hand explained: ‘She must have been absolutely terrified: an eight-year-old girl being led by strangers from one blown-up grenade of a house to another in the middle of a war zone.’
He said she was shocked at the thought of spending her ninth birthday in the tunnels, but admitted it was actually much worse running through war-torn Gaza.
Mr Hand said his daughter used to be a cheerful, boisterous child but now whispers, which he believes is because the terrorists forbade her from speaking loudly in case their position was abandoned.
Emily, who has returned pale and thin, is still in shock and is being cared for by specialists at a hospital near Tel Aviv.
When she was released, her overjoyed family said: ‘Emily has come back to us. We cannot find the words to describe our emotions after fifty challenging and complicated days.”
About 240 hostages were captured by Hamas, with just over 160 believed to still be in captivity after a series of exchanges with Palestinian prisoners.
Emily was snatched in her pajamas during Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, during which some 240 prisoners were returned to Gaza. She celebrated her ninth birthday while in captivity
In the latest exchange since the ceasefire began on Friday, Israel said 10 of its citizens and two Thai nationals had been released by Hamas and returned to Israel on Tuesday. Shortly afterwards, Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners. The truce ends Wednesday evening after another exchange.
For the first time, Israel and Hamas blamed each other for a firefight between troops and militants in northern Gaza. There was no immediate indication that this would jeopardize the ceasefire, which allowed humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.
The last group of Israeli hostages freed from Gaza – nine women and a 17-year-old – were flown to hospitals in Israel, the Israeli military said. The hostages were handed over in a street full of cheering people.
The 17-year-old girl could be seen walking alongside Hamas militants to a waiting Red Cross jeep with her small, white-haired dog named Bella.
The release of hostages Tuesday brought the number of Israelis freed during the ceasefire to 60. Since the ceasefire began, another 21 hostages — 19 Thai, one Filipino and one Russian-Israeli — have been released in separate negotiations.
Before the ceasefire, Hamas released four Israeli hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one. Two other hostages were found dead in Gaza.
The latest swap brought the number of Palestinian women and teenagers released from Israeli prisons to 180.
A fifth group of hostages was released on Tuesday. Pictured: A teenage hostage holds a dog as she is flanked by Hamas gunmen during her release
Hamas fighters escort newly released hostages before handing them over to the Red Cross in Rafah
Most are teenagers accused of throwing rocks and firebombs during clashes with Israeli forces.
Several freed women were convicted by Israeli military courts for attempting to carry out deadly attacks. The prisoners are widely seen by Palestinians as heroes who resisted the occupation.
In the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians lined the streets of Ramallah to welcome the latest Palestinian prisoners released by Israel.
A Red Cross bus took prisoners from Ofer Prison – an Israeli military prison in the West Bank – to the center of Ramallah. Some were then carried through the crowd on the shoulders of Palestinians.
The freed hostages have largely remained out of the public eye, but details about their captivity are beginning to emerge.
In one of the first interviews with a released hostage, 78-year-old Ruti Munder told Israeli television channel Channel 13 that she was initially well fed in captivity, but conditions deteriorated as shortages arose.
She said she was kept in a “suffocating” room and slept on plastic chairs with a sheet for almost 50 days.
Tuesday saw the first major firefight between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in northern Gaza since the ceasefire began. Each side blamed the other, but no further violence ensued and the exchange continued.