Freed hostage, 9, reunited with family
A nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl has been reunited with her family after spending seven weeks held hostage in Gaza.
Emily Hand, who turned nine while in captivity, was one of 17 hostages, including seven children, freed by Hamas late on Saturday.
The Israel Prison Service said 39 Palestinians had been freed as part of the agreement. The prisoners – six women and 33 minors – were released from two prisons, Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
The release of hostages by Hamas occurred after a delay of several hours due to a row over aid trucks entering Gaza.
Emily was taken captive by militants during Hamas’ attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October. She had been held hostage without any members of her family after she was abducted while staying over at a friend’s house.
Her friend, Hila, 13, has also been released. Hila’s mother, Raya Rotem, 54, is still being held in Gaza.
Emily’s relatives were initially told she had been killed, but the Israel Defence Forces later notified the family that there was evidence she was one of the hostages in Gaza.
Her father Thomas, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, said he could not “find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days”.
“We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember all the hostages who have yet to return.
“We will persist in doing everything in our power to bring them back home.”
Emily’s family held a birthday party for her while she was held hostage to campaign for her release. Her father said the family plans to throw a “great” birthday party for her now she has been freed.
He said: “She turned nine on November 17, more than a month after she was taken from me.
“I am sure she had no idea it was her birthday – she would have lost track of time and dates there. I still have the party balloons – this one is floating in my hotel room, but it’s lost a lot of air, it’s going flat. We’ll get hundreds and hundreds now and make a great party.
“She’ll have the best Christmas and Hanukkah she’s ever had. I’m a lapsed Catholic and her mum and almost all her friends are Jewish, so we celebrate both.”
Mr Hand, who campaigned continuously for his daughter’s release, met Irish president Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheal Martin to press them to do all they could to ensure Emily’s safe return.
Taoiseach, the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar said “prayers had been answered”.
“This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family,” he said.
“An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief.”
Four Thai nationals who were among hostages held in Gaza were also released on Saturday night.
A total of 41 hostages have been released from Gaza as part of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
At least 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are due to be freed during the four-day ceasefire.
The ceasefire, brokered by Qatar and the US, is the first extended break in fighting since the war began on 7 October.
Israel has said the truce can be extended by an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed, but has vowed to quickly resume its offensive and complete its goals of returning all hostages and destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
Thousands of people gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday in solidarity with the hostages and their families.
Many accuse Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to bring the hostages home.
Mr Netanyahu’s office announced early on Sunday that it had received a new list of hostages slated to be released later in the day in the third of four scheduled swaps.
