Irish-Israeli girl, 9, who was earlier thought to be killed, released by Hamas

A nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl, who was earlier thought to have been killed when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, was among the 17 hostages released on Saturday as part of a deal for a four-day ceasefire.

Videos on social media showed Emily, wearing a red dress, running and hugging her father after being released.

According to Emily’s half-sister Natalie Hand, Emily was at a sleepover at a friend’s house in Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, The Times of Israel reported.

Natalie said Emily’s friend and her mother were also apparently kidnapped. She also said her family was initially told they were killed in the Hamas’s attack.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Natalie said the family were in tears when they came to know Emily had been killed. “We were told that she had been murdered. We were in mourning,” she said.

Emily’s father, Thomas Hand, who is Irish, said “death was a blessing” for her when he received the news of his daughter’s ‘death’. “They just said, ‘We found Emily, she’s dead,’ and I went, ‘Yes’ and smiled, because that was the best news of the possibilities that I knew,” Thomas had then said.

“She was either dead or in Gaza, and if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than deathâ€æ so death was a blessing,” he had added. Thomas had moved to Israel over 30 years ago and his Israeli-born wife Liat died of cancer several years back.

Later, Natalie said they got information on October 31 that Emily was highly kidnapped.

When Emily was in Hamas captivity, she turned nine years old on November 17. For Emily’s family, it was a birthday present when she was among the 17 hostages — 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals — released by Hamas on Saturday, ending the weeks-long agony and despair.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said it was a “day of enormous joy and relief” for Emily and her family.

“This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered,” Varadkar wrote on X.

In a statement, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin was quoted by The New York Post as saying, “After weeks of trauma, this is a precious and deeply moving moment for the Hand family.”

Hamas has released 41 hostages — 17 on Saturday and 24 on Friday — of the 50 captives so far as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Qatar, which played a mediator in brokering the deal, said it hoped the four-day truce would be extended further with the release of more hostages.

Israel has freed 39 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages.