An eight-year-old Irish-Israeli girl thought to have been murdered by Hamas may in fact be alive and being held hostage in Gaza, after her father said she would be better off dead than kidnapped by the terrorists.
Israeli intelligence told Emily Hand’s family there was a “high chance” she was still alive a month after reports emerged that she was one of at least 130 people slaughtered at Kibbutz Be’eri.
The girl was at a sleepover at a friend’s house the night before the Hamas attack on Oct 7. She, her friend and her friend’s mother are believed to be among about 240 hostages taken by the terror group.
Emily’s Irish father, Thomas Hand, had earlier been informed his daughter was dead in what now appears to be a case of mistaken identity.
“We were told that she had been murdered. We were in mourning,” Emily’s 26-year-old sister Natalie told Israeli TV after learning she may still be alive.