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 doing so to flee rocket attacks in Gaza.
Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped and presumed dead when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, slaughtering 1,200 people and capturing 240 others.
Her father, Tom Hand, endured an excruciating two-day wait for news after gunmen stormed the kibbutz where she was staying with her friend.
When he was falsely told that her body had been found, he welcomed the news, saying it was better than her being taken 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 under a deal that saw Israel release 39 Palestinian prisoners in return.
Around 60 Israelis have now been released as part of an initial four-day ceasefire that was extended to six days, including a fifth group of hostages released by Hamas last night.
Israeli negotiators are offering Hamas three more days of ceasefire until Sunday morning in return 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 told The Sun: “She was a happy, loud child, now she’s whispering.” She was terrorized in hell by terrorists, but as her father it’s my job to make sure “That it will get better, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
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 among a group of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals who were released late Saturday evening as part of a deal that saw Israel release 39 Palestinian prisoners in return
This is the touching moment when Emily was reunited with her father after 50 days in captivity
Mr Hand revealed his daughter had lost more than half a stone while in captivity.
The first thing she asked for upon her release was her phone so she could watch a video of her favorite pop star, Beyoncé.
Mr Hand has vowed to “do whatever it takes to get Emily back to where she was”.
Emotional footage was shared over the weekend of the moment Emily was reunited with her dad and big sister.
Mr Hand said she ran to him and hugged him in a state of shock, thinking he had also been kidnapped.
His ex-wife Narkis, 52, was murdered on October 7 when 400 Hamas terrorists rampaged through Kibbutz Be’eri near Gaza.
Mr. Hand said he, his son and daughter mourned both Emily and Narkis because they assumed the little girl was dead.
He reiterated his belief that she was better off dead than kidnapped by Hamas, but added that he was grateful she was alive.
Emily is brought to safety by armed Hamas terrorists after being shuttled from one safe house to the next
This is the moment Emily Hand is reunited with her big sister Natali. She looked nervous and traumatized when it was returned
Emily (pictured), who has 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 the conditions of detention in Gaza, which she now refers to as “the box,” but she said that “no one beat her.”
Mr Hand revealed that Emily was not held in the horrific Hamas tunnels – as was thought.
Instead, she was shuttled from one safe house to another at the height of Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza.
Mr Hand explained: “She must have been completely terrified – an eight-year-old girl being led by strangers from one blown-up shell of a house to the next in the middle of a war zone.”
He said she was horrified at the thought of spending her ninth birthday in the tunnels, but admitted that walking through war-torn Gaza was actually much worse.
Mr. Hand said his daughter used to be a happy, loud child but now whispers, which he believes is because she was forbidden by the terrorists to speak loudly in case her position was relinquished.
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 returned to us.” “After 50 challenging and complicated days, we cannot find words to describe our feelings.”
About 240 hostages were captured by Hamas, of which just over 160 are believed to remain in captivity following a series of exchanges with Palestinian prisoners.
Emily was kidnapped in her pajamas during the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, which saw around 240 prisoners returned to Gaza. She celebrated her ninth birthday in captivity
In the latest exchange since the ceasefire began on Friday, Israel said 10 of its citizens and two Thai nationals were released by Hamas and returned to Israel on Tuesday. Shortly thereafter, Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire is due to end after another exchange of blows on Wednesday evening.
For the first time, Israel and Hamas blamed each other for a shootout between troops and militants in the northern Gaza Strip. There were no immediate signs that this would threaten the ceasefire that has allowed humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.
The latest 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 on a street full of cheering people.
The 17-year-old girl was seen walking with her small, white-haired dog named Bella alongside Hamas fighters to a waiting Red Cross jeep.
Tuesday’s release of the hostages brought the number of Israelis released during the ceasefire to 60. Another 21 hostages – 19 Thais, a Filipino and a Russian-Israeli – have been released in separate negotiations since the ceasefire began.
Before the ceasefire, Hamas released four Israeli hostages and the Israeli army rescued one. Two more hostages were found dead in Gaza.
The latest swap brings 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 clutches a dog as she is flanked by Hamas gunmen as she is released
Hamas fighters accompany newly released hostages before handing them over to the Red Cross in Rafah
Most were teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces.
Several released women were convicted by Israeli military courts of attempted fatal attacks. The prisoners are widely viewed by Palestinians as heroes resisting the occupation.
In the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians lined the streets of Ramallah to greet the latest Palestinian prisoners released by Israel.
A Red Cross bus took the prisoners from Ofer Prison – an Israeli military prison in the West Bank – to central Ramallah. Some were then carried through the crowd on the shoulders of Palestinians.
The released hostages remained largely hidden from public view, but details about their captivity began to emerge.
In one of the first interviews with a freed hostage, 78-year-old Ruti Munder told Israel’s Channel 13 television that she was initially well fed in captivity, but that conditions worsened as shortages increased.
She said she was kept in a “suffocating” room and slept on plastic chairs with a sheet for nearly 50 days.
On Tuesday, the first major exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters since the ceasefire began in the north of the Gaza Strip. Each side blamed the other, but no further violence followed and the exchange was made.