After the attack on the kibbutz the daughter was visiting, the father was told that she had died

Irish-Israeli Emily Hand, who was eight at the time, was visiting a friend overnight on Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas attacked inside Israel on October 7.

Shortly thereafter, her father, Irish widower Thomas Hand, was told that Emily was among about 100 people killed on the kibbutz.

“They just said, ‘We found Emily, and she’s dead,'” he told CNN.

Thomas Hand also said he was relieved by the news.

– I knew what the alternative was for my daughter. I knew she would either be found dead or kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

He completed nine years in captivity

But then, at the end of October, the surprise came:

The family was told it was very difficult It is likely that Emily was among 240 hostages inside Gaza.

Her birthday is November 17. She is nine years old. She won’t even know what day it is, nor will she know it’s her birthday. There will be no birthday cake, no party, and no friends. Her father added that she would feel terrified in a tunnel under Gaza CNN Immediately afterwards.

– An indescribable joy

On Saturday, after nearly two months and many conflicting messages to the family, the nine-year-old emerged from Gaza.

We cannot find the words that can describe what we feel now, after 50 days of challenge and complexity, Father Thomas tells the BBC.

Emily Hand was among the thirteen Israeli hostages and four Thais who were released on the second of the four days Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

– This is a day of unspeakable joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family, says Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in a letter Statement late Saturday night.

Also, on Saturday evening, 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons as part of the agreement.

In Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, several hundred people came out on Sunday night to welcome Palestinians now returning to their homes.

Among them was 24-year-old Nourhan Awad, who was 17 when she was sentenced in 2016 to 13-and-a-half years in prison for stabbing an Israeli soldier with scissors outside the Old City of Jerusalem.

In total, it is planned that 50 hostages will be released from Gaza, and 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons.