By Yaron Steinbuch | New York Post
An Irish-Israeli girl who was reported killed by Hamas – and whose dad said it was a “blessing’ she had died and not taken captive – is apparently alive after all and being held hostage by the terrorists, according to her family.
Emily Hand, 8, was reported to have been killed at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas invasion, but Israeli officials recently notified her family that she is among the hostages.
“We were told that she had been murdered. We were in mourning,” Emily’s half-sister, Natalie, 26, the Times of Israel reported her as saying. “On Oct. 31, they told us that it was highly likely that she had been abducted.”
In a direct message to Emily, her half-sister said: “I want to tell you that we are doing everything to get you home. We know you are being held hostage. We love you so much and miss you.”
The Irish embassy in Israel also confirmed to Irish broadcaster RTÉ that Emily was abducted and not killed.
A diplomatic official told the outlet that tests had shown her DNA was not found among the victims at the kibbutz.
Days after the attack, Emily’s Irish father, Tom, gave an emotional interview to CNN about what he believed to be her death.
He said Emily had gone to stay at a friend’s house at the kibbutz and that two days later the Israeli authorities told him they believed she was dead.
“When we found out that Emily was dead, we went ‘yes!’ and smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities I knew,” Tom told the outlet at the time.
“If you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death. That is worse than death, the way they treat you. They’d have no food, they’d have no water…she’d be in a dark room…and terrified every minute, hour, day, and possible years to come, so death was a blessing. An absolute blessing,” he added.
Natalie’s boyfriend, Natty Virado, 28, confirmed to The Irish Times on Sunday that the family was informed that Israeli intelligence believes there is a “high chance” that Emily is being held in Gaza along with her friend and the friend’s mother.
“This story just keeps piling up. This nightmare is coming to life. Thomas is holding up, we’re all holding up. Everyone in the family is dealing with the own grief and doing their best,” Virado said.
He also called on the Irish government to do everything it can to help.
Three days ago, Tom said on social media that Narkis, the mother of his two older children, had been “definitely murdered” by Hamas – adding that Emily’s reported death had been “an identity mistake.”
On Oct. 7, Tom entered his shelter during a rocket barrage from Gaza while his daughter was at a sleepover at her friend’s house.
“I could hear the gunfire getting closer. I rang my ex-wife on the kibbutz to make sure she was in a safe room and had locked the door and I told her to call the family where Emily was sleeping,” he said at the time.
He was later escorted by a senior member of the community to a room where a doctor was waiting along with a psychiatrist and a social worker, and informed that Emily had been killed.
“They just said, ‘We found Emily and she’s dead,’” he said.
Tom, who was born in Dún Laoghaire and is not Jewish, left with his family for England when he was a child, the Irish Times reported.
As an adult, he signed up as a kibbutz volunteer and was assigned to Kibbutz Be’eri.
“It was paradise. I couldn’t have asked for a better place or people,” he said, according to the outlet.
He fell in love with Narks, a member of the kibbutz, and they had two children, Natalie and Aiden, 29. After their divorce, Tom married Emily’s mother, Liat, who died of breast cancer five years ago.
Tom was in the process of applying for an Irish passport for Emily at the time of the attack.
“She was very, very sociable and she loved music. She would sing in the house all day long and she loved dancing. She would watch videos of Beyoncé. She was her favorite and would pick up the moves really quickly. She was always chosen for the dance routines on the stage for the kibbutz for the holidays – always front and center,” he said earlier.
