An Irish-Israeli girl is making her final journey into the arms of her worried father, who believed she had been killed in Hamas’ terror attacks.
Emily Hand, aged nine, is one of the 13 Israeli hostages being brought back to safety by the Red Cross tonight, after a prolonged delay on their release.
Her father Thomas Hand was originally told Emily had been killed, however then the Israeli Defence Force informed him she actually may be alive and being held in a Gazan tunnel.
The little girl, who was eight at the time was “led off” by Hamas terrorists with her friend and her friend’s mother, he told CNN. She had her ninth birthday in the clutches of her brutal kidnappers.
While his daughter was missing, Mr Hand told the US network: “She is more than likely in a tunnel somewhere under Gaza.”
He added: “It’s her birthday on November 17. She will be nine.
“She won’t even know day it is. She won’t know it’s her birthday. There will be no birthday cake. No party, no friends. She will just be petrified in a tunnel under Gaza. That is her birthday.”
The little girl was having a sleepover at her friend’s house in Be’eri when Hamas terrorists stormed the property and took her, her friend and her friend’s mother with them.
Mr Hand also told Sky News on November 21 that he would never stop campaigning for his daugher’s release: “I’m going to fall down soon but compared to what Emily is going through, this is nothing, so I will continue until I drop.”
Now however, Emily, and 12 other Israelis, have been released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel. In return, Israeli is releasing another 39 Palestinian detainees.
At around 9pm GMT, Mossad and Al-Qassam shared messages on their respective social media accounts announcing that hostages had been handed to the Red Cross.
Mossad said on X: “The transfer of the hostages to the Red Cross has been completed”.
Meanwhile Al-Qassam said on its Telegram channel: “In the context of the humanitarian calm, the Al-Qassam Brigades of the Red Cross handed over 13 Israeli detainees and 7 foreign nationalities”.
