The father of Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand says she survived nearly two months in Hamas captivity by running from house to house in Gaza to escape raining missiles — and that she now speaks in a whisper because she had been conditioned not to make noise.
“She’s a very determined little girl, very strong, I knew that her spirit would get her through it,” Thomas Hand told CNN of nine-year-old Emily, who was released on Saturday as part of the second day of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The heartbroken father said that the young girl had to run from house to house with her captors, as Israeli forces attacked Gaza.
“That’s terrifying. Being pulled, dragged, pushed … under gunfire probably,” he said.
Emily told her father that “‘nobody hit us” during her 50 days in captivity, but the children were only able to draw and play cards – and were cautioned not to make any noise.
“The most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was she was just whispering, you couldn’t hear her. I had to put my ear on her lips. She’d been conditioned not to make any noise…You could just see glassy-eyed terror,” Hand said.
When asked how long she thought she was gone, Emily replied “‘a year,’” her heartbroken father said.
“Apart from the whispering, that was a punch in the guts. A year,” he said.
Emily was let go alongside her friend, Hila Rotem-Shoshani. The girls were held captive together alongside Hila’s mother, Raaya, who is still believed to be held in Hamas custody in the Gaza Strip.
“[Raaya] looked after them like her own two kids” until they were separated two days before the girls’ release, he told the outlet.
Hand, 63, made international headlines last month when he initially learned that Emily – who was sleeping over at Hila’s house in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 – had been killed.
At the time, the grieving father told reporters that his daughter dying was the “best possibility.”
Several weeks later, however, Hand learned that none of the remains at Be’eri were identified as Emily’s – and that she was now believed to be a hostage in Gaza.
The two shared an emotional reunion on Saturday. Hand recalled.
“All of a sudden the door opened up and she just ran. It was beautiful, just like I had imagined it, running together. I probably squeezed her too hard,” he told CNN.
The family’s joy, however, was tempered by the slow revelations of what Emily endured during her eight weeks in Gaza.
“It was only when she stepped back that I could see her face was chiseled, like mine, whereas before it was chubby, girly, a young kid face,” Hand said of his daughter – who also came home with lice.
On the way home, however, “the first thing she did was get a Beyoncé song on,” Hand said.
Emily and Hila are now looking out for each other, he continued.
They celebrated Hila’s 13th birthday with a cake at the hospital on Monday and also had a cake to mark Emily’s ninth birthday, which she spent in Gaza on Nov. 17.
Emily lost her mother when she was two, Hand explained.
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When she returned, she was also faced with the death of her “second mom,” Hand’s former wife, Narkis Hand, who was killed by the terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri.
“That was very hard. We told her and her little eyes glazed over and she took a sharp intake of breath,” Hand recalled.
Hand said he was also worried Emily would be mad that he did not rescue her from the terror attack.
At their reunion, however, Emily told her father that she worried he had been taken hostage, as well
“Last night she cried until her face was red and blotchy, she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want any comfort, I guess she’s forgotten how, to be comforted. She went under the covers of the bed, the quilt, covered herself up and quietly cried,” Hand said.
“We’ll only know what she really went through as she opens up. I want to know so much information … but you have to let them, when they are ready, come out with it.”
Thomas Hand’s concerns for his daughter echo those of Devora Cohen, who told France’s BFMTV that her 12-year-old nephew, Eitan Yahalomi, was forced to watch videos of the Oct. 7 attack while he was held captive.
“[If the children cried] they threatened them with rifles to shut them up,” Cohen claimed.
“When he arrived in Gaza, all the residents, everyone, beat him. He is a 12-year-old child,” she added.
Eitan – who is a dual French-Israeli citizen – was taken captive alongside his father, Ohad, who is still believed to be in custody in the Gaza Strip, the Times of Israel noted.
Going forward, Thomas Hand told CNN, his focus is on helping Emily’s recovery and fighting to return the rest of the hostages – including Raaya.
“We have to get Raaya back for Hila, back for Emily, back for justice. Don’t go silent on us now. Bring them home, bring them home,” he insisted.