Father of Emily (9), who was kidnapped by Hamas after her release: ‘We will have hundreds of balloons and have a great party’

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She was held hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas for fifty days, but now nine-year-old Emily is finally free again. The big gathering with her family took place at a hospital on Saturday evening. The emotional images of the girl running to her father, crying with joy, went around the world.

For Emily’s relatives, her days in captivity were pure torture. After the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, the girl, who had spent the night with a friend in a kibbutz, was initially declared dead. Later it was suddenly said that she may have been taken to Gaza as a hostage.

“My Emily is finally coming home”

Last week, Emily’s father, Thomas Hand, 63, born in Ireland, made an emotional appeal for his daughter’s release, saying the family was living through a nightmare. The message clearly had an impact.

The joy and relief for Emily’s family is even greater now. ‘We’ve waited far too long for this moment. Every day was a long and painful nightmare. “My Emily is finally coming home, broken but whole,” her father told the Daily Mirror.

Difficult for the girl: she spent her ninth birthday on November 17 in Hamas captivity. “I’m sure Emily had no idea it was her birthday because she probably lost track of time,” the father said. He had already organized everything for the party before Emily’s kidnapping. He now wants to make up for that: “We will have hundreds of balloons and make it a great party.”

Dog as a great support in recovery

Hand realizes that Emily’s recovery process from her hellish experience as a hostage will take a long time. Before her release on Saturday, he said he did not know what condition he would find her in. “But she will be broken, very broken, mentally and physically, and we have to fix that.”

The father is confident that the physical problems his daughter suffers in captivity can be cured. However, the psychological damage would require much more time and effort. Her dog Johnsy will certainly be a great support to Emily. “He is exactly the calming influence Emily will need in the coming weeks,” says Hand, who has been raising Emily alone since his wife’s death.

He was adamant that he be allowed to bring the dog to the reunion meeting. To his surprise, the Israeli army agreed without objection.

Father considers leaving Israel

The father himself will probably continue to struggle with the events surrounding his daughter for a long time. “I had terrible visions of what the Hamas terrorists could do to her and I thought it was even worse than death. Now I’m going to find out the truth.”

To give Emily the best possible recovery, Hand considers leaving Israel. “Maybe I’ll take her all the way out of Israel so she can recover in a country where there is complete peace, like England, for example.”

Israel wants to summon Irish ambassador over tweet

There is also great joy at Emily’s release in Ireland. An X-post from Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar (44) has now caused diplomatic unrest in Israel. “This is a day of great joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned and we breathe a sigh of relief,” Varadkar wrote.

In Israel, this description was criticized for downplaying the hostage-taking by the Islamist Hamas. Benny Gantz (64), a minister in Israel’s war cabinet, wrote on X: “Nine-year-old Emily was never lost – she was brutally kidnapped by the terrorist Hamas and held hostage.” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (51) said on Sunday that Israel wanted to summon the Irish ambassador because of the “scandalous statements”. (ced)

Source: Blick