An eight-year-old girl who was believed to have been slaughtered in Israel by Hamas terrorists is now thought to be alive and among those held hostage in Gaza.
Emily Hand, a young Irish-Israeli girl, was reported to have been one of the at least 130 people killed in the deadly massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where she spent the night of October 6 to October 7 at a sleepover at her friend’s house.
In the aftermath of the attack, in an interview that went around the world, her Irish-born father Thomas Hand said that he was glad to hear that she was dead as he was terrified of how she would have been treated by Hamas terrorists.
But after a month of mourning thinking she had been killed, her family today revealed Israeli authorities had told them the schoolgirl is a hostage of Hamas, and is likely being held somewhere in in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Emily’s older sister, Natalie Hand, told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12: ‘We were told that she had been murdered. We were in mourning.
Emily Hand, a young Irish-Israeli girl, was reported to have been one of the at least 130 people killed in the deadly massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri
Her father, Irish-born Thomas Hand, said that he was glad to hear that she was dead as he was terrified of how she would have been treated by Hamas terrorists
Pictured: Emily Hand. The eight-year-old girl had stayed 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 girl
‘On October 31, they told us that it was highly likely that she had been abducted.’
When Natalie was asked whether she had anything she wanted to say to Emily, on the off-chance she was listening, she said: ‘I want to tell you that we are doing everything to get you home. We know you are being held hostage.
‘We love you so much and miss you.’
Natalie added that Israeli officials told her Emily’s friend and her mother, whose house she was staying at, were also likely to be Hamas hostages as well.
Their father Mr Hand, who is not Jewish and was born in the coastal town of Dún Laoghaire in the Republic of Ireland, said in an interview with CNN just days after Hamas’ brutal attack against Israel: ‘[Israeli authorities] said, “We found Emily. She’s dead,” and I just went “Yes!” I went “yes”, and I smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew.’
‘She was either dead, or in Gaza. And if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death,’ he said.
‘They’d have no food. They’d have no water. She’d 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.’
However, Mr Hand’s worst fears appear to have been realised with the latest update from the family that young Emily is believed to be among the roughly 240 people who were taken by Hamas gunmen back across the border on October 7.
Ireland’s Justice Minister, Helen McEntee, said the Government is doing everything it can to support Emily’s family.
Ms McEntee told RTE: ‘This is a hugely traumatic situation for her family and for every family who finds themselves with their loved one held hostage.
‘We are doing everything that we can to support this family and others to make sure that people can be returned home safely to their families.
‘We have called from the very beginning for Hamas to release any hostages that they might have. And, of course, where Irish citizens are involved here every effort has been made to support them.’
Israeli tanks cross the border from the Gaza Strip to southern Israel
Palestinians search for casualties at the Magazi Refugee Camp
Smoke rises from Gaza as the war continues to unfold
Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza in their thousands, slaughtering civilians in the border region around the territory. Israel says around 1,400 people were killed, making it the most deadly terror attack in the country’s history.
Gunmen shot and burned families in their own homes. Children and even babies were found shot in cold blood and even beheaded, officials have said.
In response, Israel unleashed an unrelenting bombardment and siege of Gaza, killing thousands and leaving millions with rapidly dwindling supplies.
It also launched a ground offensive and has now encircled Gaza City, which before the war was home to around 1.1 million people. Many have now fled south.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, says more than 9,770 people, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign in the month since the attack.
Last month, Mr. Hand told the Irish Times: ‘She was a little angel and she actually looked like an angel. She was very, very sociable and she loved music.
‘She would sing in the house all day long and she loved dancing. She would watch videos of Beyoncé; she was her favourite and would pick up the moves really quickly.
‘She was always chosen for the dance routines on the stage for the Kibbutz for the holidays – always front and centre, so if the other kids forgot the steps they could just look at Emily. She was exceptional.’
Five hostages have been released to date, including four after negotiations through a diplomatic backchannel and one following an operation by the Israeli army.
In a televised address, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said: ‘We have informed intermediaries that we will release a certain number of foreigners in the next few days.’
The announcement came as international warnings increased over the spiralling bloodshed and mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza, on a day in which Israeli troops and Hamas militants engaged in ‘fierce battles’ in the north of the strip.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it struck over 2,500 targets since the beginning of the ground operations in Gaza
Israel military vehicles and heavy smoke inside the Gaza Strip
Palestinians checking the destruction in the aftermath of a strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip
‘Gaza will be a graveyard and a quagmire for the enemy, its soldiers and its political and military leadership,’ said Obeida.
The Gaza Strip has tonight come under its third total communications outage since the start of the war, while Israel’s military announced it had encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal territory into two.
‘Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,’ IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed, calling it a ‘significant stage’ in Israel’s war against Hamas.
Israeli media reported that troops are expected to enter Gaza City within the next 48 hours.
While massive explosions were seen in the northern Gaza Strip after dusk on Sunday evening, the latest ‘collapse in connectivity’ across Gaza reported by internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org, and confirmed by Palestinian telecom company Paltel, made it even more complicated to share details on the new stage of the military offensive.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli planes struck two central Gaza refugee camps, killing at least 53 people and wounding dozens, health officials said.
Israel said it would press on with its offensive to crush the territory’s Hamas rulers, despite US appeals for even brief pauses to get aid to desperate civilians.