Until a few days ago, the family of Emily Hand, 8, from Kibbutz Bari, was sure she had been murdered on October 7. Last week, however, the IDF notified the family that it had apparently been abducted to Gaza.
A few days after the massacre on the kibbutz, her father was interviewed by CNN and told about Emily, who also holds Irish citizenship. In the interview, her father sobbed in pain, and said that he was happy when he heard that his daughter had died, and that he preferred it to the option that she was being held in Gaza. "They told me she was dead and I shouted, 'Yes!'" he said through tears. "It was the best option of all. It's either she's dead, or she's kidnapped in Gaza. What they're doing to people in Gaza is worse than death."
"To think we cried for her when we thought she was murdered." Emily Hand/Social Media Documentation under Section 27A of the Copyright Law
Emily's sister, Natalie, was interviewed last night on Oded Ben-Ami's Channel 12 program and said: "To think that we cried for her and sat quietly while we thought she had been murdered. My mother was also murdered, we were broken, in mourning. On October 31, we were informed that Emily had been kidnapped. The night before the massacre she was at her friend's house, her friend and mother were kidnapped and they were also informed that they had been murdered."
"I want to tell you that we are doing everything to bring you back," Natalie turned to the camera. "We know you're kidnapped, we miss you."
- More on the subject:
- Barry
- Gaza War
- Iron Sword War