Father speaks on experience of 9-year-old girl held hostage by Hamas

Thomas Hand, the father of the 9-year-old Israeli-Irish girl, who was believed to be dead but surprisingly released Saturday, appeared on CNN Tuesday to speak about his daughter’s experience being held hostage by Hamas.

Emily Hand was taken by Hamas in its surprise attack on Oct. 7, then forced to move from house to house as Israel’s military attacked Gaza, he said. Thomas Hand, who once thought his daughter was dead, then believed she was being held in tunnels underground.

He told CNN’s Clarissa Ward Tuesday that his daughter, who turned nine while in captivity for nearly two months, had been conditioned not to make any noise.

“The most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was she was just whispering, you couldn’t hear her,” he said. “I had to put my ear on her lips.”

Thomas Hand said his daughter also struggled to process time while being held in captivity, believing it had been a year since the initial attack, and thought she was the only one taken hostage.

“So apart from the whispering, that was like a punch in the gut,” he said.

Thomas Hand said his daughter is still disconnected from everything going on around her, but is opening up slowly.

Emily was at a sleepover when Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7. Since then, she has been in captivity with her friend, Hila Rotem-Shoshani and Hila’s mother Raaya, CNN reported.

They were released Saturday as part of the ongoing truce that has facilitated a series of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges between Hamas and Israel.

The fifth round of detainees were released Tuesday and is expected to continue until Thursday. The U.S. is working to extend the cease-fire again to exchange more hostages, and allow for more aid to be delivered to Gaza.

Thomas Hand previously spoke with Ward in an emotional interview that aired on Oct. 12. He said he exclaimed “yes” when he first heard the news that Emily was killed in the fighting.

“She was either dead or in Gaza, and if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death,” he previously told Ward. “So, death was a blessing.”

On Tuesday, he said the moment was reunited with his daughter was beautiful.

“All of a sudden, the door opened up, and she just ran. It was beautiful. Just like I imagined it, you know, running together,” Thomas Hand said. “I squeezed. I probably squeezed too hard.”

Hamas took some 240 hostages into Gaza after it attacked Israel in early October, and is still believed to be holding nearly 200 after releasing dozens of the captives in recent days.