THIS is the heartwarming moment Hamas hostage Emily Hand was finally reunited with her father after a seven-week kidnap hell.
The Irish-Israeli girl, who turned nine in the terror group’s tunnel maze beneath Gaza, was snatched from bed during the brutal October 7 attacks.
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Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, 9, reunites with her dad Thomas after spending seven weeks in Hamas captivity
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Emily ran up to her dad before he embraced her in a tight and tearful hug
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Her dad at one point feared the little girl was dead
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Emily was held captive for seven weeks after she was kidnapped from a friend’s house in Be’eri Kibbutz
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Hamas terrorists handing over the nine-year-old girl alongside another hostage
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Emily and her dad finally got their emotional reunion last night after an agonising delay to the second Israeli hostage releaseCredit: AP
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An International Red Cross van carrying hostages released by Hamas heads towards the Rafah Crossing on Saturday evening
Emily and her dad Thomas enjoyed a tearful reunion as the nine-year-old underwent physical and mental health checks after nearly 50 days in captivity.
In touching footage, Emily can be seen running into the arms of her father as the pair embrace tightly.
The doting dad couldn’t contain his smile as he held his daughter close and snuggled up on a couch.
He appeared teary-eyed after finally being reunited with his girl, who sat in her pyjamas with a teddy on her lap.
Thomas said while he knew his young daughter would be “broken” he was glad to be getting her back in “one piece”.
He even admitted he was too scared to hug her tightly following the emotional reunion.
Emily’s family said in a statement after her release: “Emily has come back to us. We can’t 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 Raya Rotem and all the hostages who have yet to return.”
As her dad endured the painful wait to see his daughter again, he told The Mirror: “Emily is so wonderfully sweet and innocent – and I hope and pray that this awful experience will not have taken that away from her.
“I expect she’ll be very angry with me to start with because you’ve been thinking, ‘Where is Daddy? Why has Daddy not come to save me?”
It was a journey back from the dead for the youngster – whose dad at first believed she had been killed in the October 7 terrorist bloodbath.
Emily had been snatched by the terrorists from bed during a sleepover at a friend’s house in Be’eri Kibbutz and taken to Gaza.
In a heartbreaking interview in the days after she was grabbed, Thomas said he was relieved his girl had died because being kidnapped by Hamas was a fate “worse than death”.
But since discovering she was alive, he has pushed tirelessly for her release.
Emily was yesterday confirmed among the 13 Israeli women and children and seven other foreign nationals released under a fragile truce deal with Israel.
She was then snapped walking hand-in-hand with another girl – with Hamas terrorists guiding them on either side – as they were led through darkness to Red Cross 4x4s.
At the time Emily’s father told the Mirror: “We have been waiting for far too long for this moment.
“Every day has been a long and painful living nightmare.…my Emily is coming home at last, broken but in one piece.”
And hours later the father-daughter duo were together again.
Saturday was the second day of a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel – where the parties had agreed to exchange 13 Israeli civilian hostages for 39 Palestinians kept in Israeli prisons.
Emily’s father was kept waiting for news after Hamas threw the second agreed hostage into chaos.
The 13 Israelis were supposed to be passed into the care of Red Cross teams at 4pm local time, but Hamas blocked the move.
The terror group had claimed it delayed the release of hostages because only 65 vehicles filled with humanitarian aid had reached northern Gaza since the ceasefire began on Friday.
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said this amount was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”, the BBC reported.
A senior Hamas official further alleged Israel flew drones over southern Gaza, killed two Palestinians in an area of Gaza where civilians are free to move, and made changes to an agreed list of Palestinian prisoners to be released.
Israel denied breaches and threatened to resume fighting at midnight – 10pm UK time – if the hostages were not freed.
‘WEEKS OF TRAUMA’
With less than an hour to go, Red Cross officials in Gaza confirmed the handover had taken place and the group were on their way to safety in Egypt before returning home to Israel.
The released hostages’ convoy was seen making its way through Egypt to the meeting point at Kerem Shalom late Saturday night where security representatives checked a list of names.
Anxious Tom had told The Sun hours before Emily’s dramatic release: “I’ve been told Emily is on today’s list and will be released today.
“But I won’t rest until I’ve seen her with my own eyes and held her in my arms.”
He even had plans for his Beyonce-loving daughter, adding: “I’ll make sure I’ll get her to the next Beyonce concert – I’ll bring her to Disney World, I’ll spend all my money, every penny I’ve got to give her fun to make up for everything.
“I’m going to give her the world.”
After Emily was spotted among the freed hostages, Irish foreign affairs minister Micheal Martin said he was delighted the “bright and beautiful young girl” had been released.
DAD’S ‘NIGHTMARES’
He said: “After weeks of trauma, this is a precious and deeply moving moment for the Hand family.
“The people of Ireland have been touched by Emily’s story, her innocence and the quiet dignity and determination of her father Tom.”
Also released tonight were Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam, siblings Alma and Noam Or, Hila Rotem, Shiri Weiss and her daughter Noga, Adi Shoham and children Yahel and Naveh, Maya Regev, and Shoshan Haran.
Twelve hostages were taken to Sheba Medical Centre and one, 21-year-old Maya Regev, to the nearer Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheba, as she was in need of urgent medical treatment.
Young Emily had to spend her ninth birthday in the Hamas’ terror tunnels.
It came after her grieving Irish dad, 63, was initially told she was killed in the October 7 attacks in which 1,200 innocents were slaughtered.
But he was later informed she was alive and had been kidnapped by Hamas.
Thomas, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin and raised in England, told The Sun earlier this month: “I’m having nightmares about the conditions she is in in the tunnel.
“I imagine seeing her… I can’t go there very often. My mind at night brings me there. During the day, I have to push it away. It’s too horrible.”
He insisted her dog, Johnsie, had to come with him to see her on Saturday and the Israeli army agreed.
He said: “The dog is so loving and so calm usually… he’s just the calming influence Emily will need for the next few weeks.”
“I absolutely insisted that the dog must come with me and, to my surprise, the Israeli army has agreed.
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These are the 13 Israeli women and children who were freed from the grips of Hamas on Saturday
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Emily Hand with her father Thomas (right) after a 49-day kidnap hell
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The concerned and tearful dad embraced his daughter as he appeared to check her over
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Emily was snatched from bed during a sleepover at a friend’s house in Be’eri Kibbutz and taken to Gaza by the terrorists
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Thomas was initially told she was killed in the October 7 attacksCredit: Getty
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Emily’s devastated family threw her an emotional birthday party as she turned nine while being held captive in Gaza
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With less than an hour to go, Red Cross officials in Gaza confirmed the handover had finally taken place after the delay on SaturdayCredit: Getty
Last week, her devastated family threw her an emotional birthday party as she turned nine while being held captive in Gaza.
Cakes were laid out on a table on what should have been one of the happiest days of the Irish-Israeli child’s life.
Instead, 50 members of the Israeli community gathered at a solemn vigil in London to celebrate the schoolgirl’s birthday in her absence.
There were bright-coloured balloons but party food sat uneaten on the empty seats in a powerful appeal for the hostages to be freed.
Children’s birthday music played through speakers, accompanied with chilling audio from Hamas’s October 7 terror operation — of militants shouting in Arabic and the sound of gunfire and kids screaming.
Forty plates sat on the table on a street near Trafalgar Square — each symbolising an innocent child held captive by terrorists.
It comes as Hamas fighters handed over 13 terrified Israeli women and children yesterday after holding them captive for 49 days.
The hostages were pulled from blacked-out vans by masked Hamas militants and passed over to Red Cross workers.
‘NOT OVER YET’
All 13 Israeli hostages were sent to separate hospitals across Israel, where medical staff said most of them appeared to be in good physical health.
Both sides said they would release women and children first.
The IDF said approximately 40 children are believed to be held captive by the terror group since the October 7 massacre.
And under the new truce deal, around 12 hostages are set to be released per day in phases, it has been understood.
However, moments before the ceasefire began, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) insisted the truce “is temporary” – and urged people in Gaza not to move north.
“The war is not over yet,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.
“The northern Gaza Strip is a dangerous war zone, and it is forbidden to move north.
“For your safety, you must remain in the humanitarian zone in the south.”
‘HUMAN SHIELDS’
The IDF said troops had “completed operational preparations” ahead of the temporary ceasefire and “destroyed a route of underground terrorist tunnels and tunnel shafts” in the area of the Shifa hospital.
Palestinian civilians have been fleeing for their lives as Israel attempts to destroy Hamas after the terror group massacred 1,200 civilians on October 7.
Families living in Gaza have been caught in the brutal crossfire, with regular accusations that the terrorists are attempting to use them as “human shields”.
Much of the northern part of the strip has been turned into a devastated warzone – with ruined buildings, dwindling supplies and horrific suffering for Gaza’s people.
The Red Cross estimates that some 1.5million civilians have been forced to flee south amid the Israeli onslaught from land, air and sea.
Figures for the death toll remain unverified – but Hamas’ health officials claim more than 11,000 civilians, including more than 4,500 children have been killed.
Israel disputes these figures – and US President Joe Biden said he had “no confidence” in them.
But Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israel has “not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties.
But he said the deaths must be blamed on Hamas – not Israel.
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Emily Hand was in one of the convoys of hostages released by Hamas last night
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The IDF says 40 children have been abducted by Hamas since the October 7 assault
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The latest truce deal between Israel and Hamas will see 50 women and children freed from the terrorists captive in Gaza
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Source: HIS Education