A nine-year-old girl kidnapped by Hamas in October is one of 13 Israeli hostages freed by the Palestinian militant group on Saturday, her family confirmed.
Emily Hand, who was abducted on the morning of October 7 while sleeping near the Gaza border, will now be reunited with her loved ones.
“Emily is back!” her family said in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Saturday, the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“We cannot find words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days,” the statement said.
What is Hamas, the Palestinian militant group behind terrorist attacks on Israel?
“We want to express our gratitude to everyone who has helped and supported us over the last 50 days leading up to Emily’s return,” the Hand family wrote. “We appreciate the unwavering support as we continue our efforts for the safe return of all.”
Emily Hand turned 9 while being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Thomas Hand
Along with Emily, Hamas is freeing 12 other hostages, including 13-year-old Hila Rotem, who the nine-year-old was with when she was abducted, CNN reported. Hila’s mother, Raya Rotem, is still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The Hand family paid tribute to the remaining hostages in a statement, writing: “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. We will persist in doing everything in our power to bring them home.”
According to Israeli officials, the other hostages reportedly freed Saturday are Shoshan Haran, 67; Shiri Weiss, 53; Sharon Avigdori, 52; Adi Šoham, 38 years old; Maya Regev, 21; Noga Weiss, 18 years old; Noam Orr, 17; Alma Or, 13 years old; Noam Avigdori, 12; Naveh Shoham, 8; and Yahel Shoham, 3; CNN reported.
Noam and Alma Or’s father, Dror Or, is still detained in Gaza, CNN writes. Their mother died on October 7.
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Emily and Thomas Hand.
Thomas Hand
Ahead of Emily’s 9th birthday on Nov. 17, her father, Thomas Hand, spoke to PEOPLE about his daughter and the day she was abducted.
As the attack began on October 7, Thomas — who immigrated to Israel from Ireland — called Emily’s “second mom” and his ex-wife Nikus, because his “Hebrew is not as good” as hers.[I] he told her to go to her shelter and call Raya [Rotem]Hila’s mother, with whom Emily spent the night.”
Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce as hostages were released and humanitarian aid was provided
After Nikus was shot while trying to run to her mother’s house, which was only 100 meters away, Thomas decided not to run away the same way.
“I thought, ‘Well, if I do that and they kill me now, Emily won’t have a mother or a father.’ Maybe he’ll survive. He may not touch her house,” he told PEOPLE. “I still feel guilty about it. I should have done it. Maybe things would have turned out differently.”
A few days after the attack, he was told that Emily had been found dead. Then, on October 31, “the [Israeli] the military gave me official information and said, ‘We have not found any body or blood that can be identified as Emily,'” he recalled.
“The lack of evidence led them to believe that she, along with her little friend and her friend’s mother, had been kidnapped and were in Gaza,” he said.
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“When I was told, I just kept saying, ‘No. No no no.’ It wasn’t the news I wanted to hear at first,” Thomas told PEOPLE. “But once it got into my head, into my heart, of course, I want her back, I want her back alive, I want her back at any cost. I’m doing everything, we’re doing everything we can to get her back. There’s no limit to what we’ll do to get her back.”
“We will bring her back,” he added.
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Source: HIS Education