A devastated father said he welcomed the news that his eight-year-old daughter had been killed by Hamas terrorists rather than taken hostage during the barbaric attack on the Be’eri kibbutz.
Thomas Hand faced an excruciating two-day wait for news about his daughter Emily after Palestinian terrorists stormed their kibbutz around 7am on Saturday, killing at least 100 people.
Hand says the kibbutz was pinned down under gunfire for about 12 hours that day, during which he did not know where his child was or the fate of his child after she went to sleep at a neighbor’s house – something she rarely did.
In a heartbreaking interview with CNN, Hand broke down in tears as he recounted the moment he was finally told his daughter’s body had been found — and said his reaction was one of relief that she hadn’t been kidnapped instead.
“They said, “We found Emily. She’s dead,’ and I just went, ‘Yes!’
Devastated father Thomas Hand tearfully recalls finding out his eight-year-old daughter was killed by Hamas terrorists
Eight-year-old Emily Hand was killed by Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Be’eri on Saturday. Her father said he was relieved to learn his daughter was dead rather than a prisoner of the Palestinian terrorists who allegedly tortured her in Gaza
“She doesn’t do it a lot, but unfortunately that night, that particular night – Friday night – she went to sleep at her friend’s house,” says Hand.
The next morning the kibbutz was under attack.
Hand described how he felt during the siege: ‘I think the army will be here soon. Just hold on a little longer, and longer, and longer.’
Later, when Hand was informed of his daughter’s murder, he said: ‘I just said “Yes!”
“It was the best news of the possibilities I knew…” he trailed off through tears.
‘She was either dead, or in Gaza. And if you know anything about what they are doing to people in Gaza, it is worse than death,’ he said.
‘They won’t have food. They would have no water. She would be in a dark room filled with Christ knows how many people. And terrified every minute, hour, day and possible years to come. So death was a blessing. An absolute blessing.’
In addition to the estimated 1,200 Israelis slaughtered by Hamas over the weekend, the Palestinian terrorists kidnapped scores of Israelis and about 20 Americans whose conditions and whereabouts are unknown.
The agents of Hamas committed unimaginable acts of violence against innocent Israelis, including raping and dragging the bodies of women and girls through the streets, burning families alive and beheading babies.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces took reporters, including a Fox News crew, to Be’eri, which is just three miles from the Gaza border.
Until Saturday, the kibbutz was known as an art and farming community of 1,200 people.
Pictured: Emily Hand. The eight-year-old girl spent the night at a friend’s house on Friday, her father, Thomas, said. For 12 hours while the kibbutz was under siege, he did not know the fate or whereabouts of his little daughter
An IDF soldier walks past body bags of more than 20 dead Hamas militants with the word “terrorist” written in Hebrew, on a main field at Kibbutz Be’eri, where dozens of civilians died days earlier.
A gun lies on top of a dead Hamas terrorist’s body at nearby K’far Aza, which was also stormed by Palestinian terrorists on Saturday
An Israeli soldier walks past a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be’eri, Wednesday, October 11, 2023
A destroyed house at Kibbutz Be’eri, which underwent 12 hours of terrorist activity before IDF soldiers arrived to retake the area
The site was only declared safe for outsiders on Tuesday when all the bodies of Israeli victims were removed. However, the burned and mutilated corpses of Hamas fighters still lay in piles on the outskirts of the kibbutz.
The smells of blood and death were sickening according to several reporters.
Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst took viewers inside one of the bullet mystery houses on the property.
“You can see the floors are stained with blood,” he said.
‘It was Saturday morning, around 7am, when militants stormed this village. You can see the weapons they brought with them, extra ammunition, bullet holes in the side of the house and knives on the floor.’
‘It was completely destroyed. It looks like some of the buildings have been hit with RPGs, explosives.’
He said he came across rooms that were ‘full of blood’ in which residents had been murdered in their beds. Some of the victims were beheaded, according to the IDF.
Yingst tweeted photos of the destroyed houses inside the kibbutz
The Fox News reporter showed blood-stained floors and bullet-riddled homes
A house that was left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants on this kibbutz days earlier when dozens of civilians died near the border with Gaza on Tuesday.
Cars and a stroller left at the scene of a rocket attack from Gaza at the weekend are pictured on a main road near the entrance to the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza.
‘Worse than ISIS’: Photo of bloodied child’s bed posted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
A baby seat and child’s dress are seen in the aftermath of a bloodied Hamas attack
Shots and bloodstains are seen on a door and walls of a house where civilians were killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas on this kibbutz near the border with Gaza on Tuesday
A soldier is overcome with emotion as he searches for bodies in the kibbutz
Yingst described the scene as ‘hell on earth’. He said it was the most horrific site he had been to in his career reporting around the world.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas, making it clear that Gaza will feel the impact of Israel’s retaliation for decades to come.
This week, Israeli airstrikes demolished entire neighborhoods and sent people scrambling to find safety. The war is only expected to escalate from here.
Netanyahu promised that his army would ensure the death of every Hamas operative.