The Irish father of an nine-year-old girl taken as a hostage to Gaza has spoken of his “nightmare” and how his daughter would be thinking “why has my daddy not come to save me.”
Emily Hand was originally feared dead after the Hamas assault on Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel on October 7.
However the Irish-Israeli schoolgirl was one of the 30 children taken. A total of 240 people are still being held.
On October 7, Hamas launched thousands of rockets and militants killed 1,400 Israeli civilians, as well as taking hostages.
At a press conference at the Israeli embassy in Kensington on Monday Thomas Hand pleaded for the release of his daughter.
It was her ninth birthday on Friday and Mr Hand said he had prayed she would have been released by then.
Mr Hand, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, described the events leading up to the kidnap.
He said: “I was in the kibbutz that day. It was just another normal day … normality.”
He said they then heard shouting getting closer.
“I got out of my bed, went to the safe room to wait till it’s over but it’s different. There was single shot and automatic fire, we know all the sounds of warfare.
“It started the other side of the kibbutz. It was just getting closer and closer … there were about 400 Hamas terrorists slaughteringfamilies, raping, dismembering bodies I don’t know how a human being can be that evil. Evil in their heart.
“They attacked the house of my ex wife … .They couldn’t get in, they set light to her house. She stayed in the safe room as long as she could.
“Hamas left the house .When she didn’t hear any Arab voices she tried to get to her mum’s house 200 metres away but they shot her on the way. My son and daughter had lost their mother.
“I was holed up in my safe room until 1am, the worst day of my life, it was terrifying. I was praying for someone to come.
“They kidnapped my little daughter who was doing a sleepover at a friend’s house.
“They were led away by terrorists who put them on open bed trucks back to Gaza.We had an unofficial report she was dead at first.
“But there was No DNA found, no blood throughout the house, no blood outside. It was for the lack of information they found out she was taken away.
“She was kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
“I’m waiting for news that is my worst nightmare. I could start grieving for her but I was thrown back in the nightmare.
“Imagine one of them has come you do not know if she has the basics of life, food, hygiene, water.
“The sheer terror of 9 year old girl (in a tunnel) never seeing the light of day.
“She must be saying ever day: “Where is daddy why has he not come to save me?”
He said even if she was released she would be “physically and mentally broken.”
He said he would help his daughter recover. Mr Hand added: “That’s my prime reason for getting up.”
On Hamas he said: “They are monsters. This is not combat … it’s terrorism.
“Help us to get her back bring them back home I don’t think it’s too much to ask for
“They have gone beyond the line.”
He said the relatives of the hostages need “proof of life” to show the condition of their loved ones. On a possible release of the hostages he said: “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
He previously described his daughter as a “fun-loving child” who loves music, dancing and singing.
He said: “Even my dog misses her. She used to use him as a pillow, stick her head down and fall asleep. Funny, the things that you miss, and now she’s kidnapped in Gaza along with many others.
“I want to hug Emily again, love her, fix her.”
Meanwhile Yotam Haim, a drummer for heavy metal band Persephore, has been missing since October 7, when Hamas terrorists attacked his kibbutz of Kfar Aza, killing, abducting and committing atrocities in the community.
Yotam, 28, was last seen in a video he took on that Saturday morning, showing himself in the front door of his Kfar Aza home, according to what his mother, Iris Haim, told Associated Press.
His mother Iris said at the press conference on Monday: “That day 7 October his issue was to go to play the drums.
“He found himself in a hell of shooting … we lost contact with him at 10.44 … he left his room healthy … He needs medication.
“As a mother I cannot explain what I feel as a mum … he is captured somewhere."
The family of Almog Meir also appealed for his release.
They described how they had seen harrowing images of him injured.
His mother Orit Meir said: “The last that he said was I love you.”
Israel has responded to the Hamas attack with missile attacks and a ground offensive on the war-torn enclave, as part of an operation to target Hamas’s leaders and operations.
More than 11,000 people have been killed in the region and aid agencies have warned that low supplies of food, water and medicines are creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
