Kidnapped girl, nine, held hostage by Hamas for 50 days is making a remarkable recovery, smiling and singing and dancing to Beyonce, her father reveals
The father of a young girl who was held hostage by Hamas for 50 days says she is making a remarkable recovery and is back singing and dancing to Beyoncé.
Emily Hand, an Israeli and Irish citizen, was kidnapped and presumed dead when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing another 240.
Her father Tom Hand, 63, faced an excruciating two-day wait for news after gunmen stormed the kibbutz where she was staying overnight at her friend’s house.
When the Irishman was mistakenly informed that her body had been found, he welcomed the news as he said it was better than her being taken hostage during the barbaric attack on Kibbutz Beeri.
But little Emily survived and was one of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals who were released late Saturday as part of a deal in which Israel would release 39 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Emily Hand, an Israeli and Irish citizen, (pictured) was kidnapped and presumed dead when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing another 240.
Her father Tom Hand, 63 (pictured with Emily after her release), had to wait an excruciating two days for news after gunmen stormed the kibbutz where she was staying overnight at her friend’s house.
When the Irishman was mistakenly informed that her body had been found, he welcomed the news as he said it was better than her being taken hostage during the barbaric attack on Kibbutz Be’eri.
Mr Hand vowed to do “everything possible” to help her recover and he now says little Emily’s cheerfulness has returned.
“She smiles all day. She laughs, jokes and dances a little,” he told the Mirror.
The first thing Emily asked for after her release was her phone so she could watch a video of her favorite pop star, Beyoncé.
And now he says he’ll make this the “best Christmas yet” – as she gets twice as many gifts after missing her birthday on November 17.
She is also looking forward to a proper festive feast as Mr Hand reports his daughter’s appetite has also returned after she lost half a stone while in captivity.
At the end of November, shortly after the couple’s reunion, he said Sun: “She was a cheerful, noisy child,” she whispers now. She was terrorized by terrorists in hell, but it’s my job as her father to make it better, and I will.”
But now Mr Hand is looking forward to returning home to his family’s kibbutz, calling it “the closest thing to heaven.”
And he says that in Israel Emily will be recognized – passers-by call her a “hero.”
Mr Hand vowed to do “everything possible” to help her recover and he now says little Emily smiles “all day long”.
Emily was captured in her pajamas during the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, which brought about 240 captives back to Gaza. She celebrated her ninth birthday in captivity
Following her return, emotional footage was released of the moment Emily was reunited with her father and older sister.
Mr Hand said she ran up to him and hugged him in shock because she thought he too had been kidnapped.
His ex-wife Narkis, 52, was killed on October 7 when 400 Hamas terrorists rioted at Kibbutz Be’eri near Gaza.
Mr Hand said he, his son and daughter were mourning Emily, as well as Narkiss, because they believed the little girl was dead.
He stressed that it was better for her to die than to be kidnapped by Hamas, but added that he was grateful that she was alive.
After her release, Emily told her father little about conditions in the Gaza Strip, which she now calls “the box,” but said that “nobody beat her.”
Mr Hand said Emily was not held, as suspected, in the horrific Hamas tunnels.
Instead, she was transferred from one shelter to another in the midst of Israeli retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Mr Hand said she ran up to him and hugged him in shock because she thought he too had been kidnapped.
Mr Hand explained shortly after her release: “She must have been absolutely terrified – an eight-year-old girl being led from one bombed-out house to another by strangers in the middle of a war zone.”
It comes as the UN Security Council approved a watered-down request for increased humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
Amid global outrage over the rising death toll in Gaza during the 11-week war between Israel and Hamas and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the US abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.
Following high-level negotiations aimed at winning over Washington, the resolution no longer loosens Israel’s control over all aid supplies to 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip.
Lord Cameron said the adoption of a UN resolution calling for the immediate acceleration of aid supplies to civilians in the Gaza Strip was a positive step.
The British Foreign Secretary said: “It is good news that the UN has come together to support a resolution to deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The UK is doing everything it can to get more help, as I saw when I visited Al-Arish in Egypt, near the Gaza border, this week.
“People across Gaza urgently need food, medicine and shelter. We have consistently advocated for more aid and called on Israel to open more border crossings.
“In addition to the need to expand humanitarian access, today’s UN resolution demands the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages. This is vital.
“It is important to note that the resolution also calls for steps towards a sustainable ceasefire. This is the outcome I advocated last week with the German Foreign Minister and I firmly believe it is the right approach.”