Thomas Hand, 63, was told his 9-year-old daughter was murdered during the October 7th massacre - believe it or not, this was actually a relief for him because every other possibility was far worse than death.
Several weeks later, it turned out his daughter, Emily, was still alive but was believed to have been kidnapped.
Hamas released Emily on Sunday but she is not doing well.
- She came home with lice.
- She's lost weight.
- She only speaks in whispers.
- She cries and cries and is practically afraid of being comforted.
Her father described it as "glassy-eyed terror."
Thomas told CNN that Emily had to run from house to house with her kidnappers as the IDP moved in on Hamas.
That's terrifying. Being pulled, dragged, pushed … under gunfire probably.
Emily says that "nobody hit us" during her 50 days in captivity; she and the other children were only allowed to draw and play with cards but were cautioned and conditioned not to make any noise.
When asked how long she thought she had been gone, Emily whispered, "a year" - this was like a "punch in the guts," her father said.
Thomas wants to know everything she went through but is allowing Emily to take her time to slowly open up about what happened to her in Gaza, a place she calls "the box."
She's a very determined little girl, very strong, I knew that her spirit would get her through it.
Emily was released alongside her friend Hila Rotem-Shoshani. The two of them were held captive with Hila's mother, Raaya, who is still believed to be a captive.
Thomas told CNN that Raaya "looked after them like her own two kids" until they were separated two days before the girls' release.
Emily was sleeping over at Hila's house in Kibbutz Be'eri when Hamas attacked on October 7.
According to her father, Emily and Hila are very supportive of each other. On Monday at the hospital, they received two cakes - one to celebrate Hila's 13th birthday and the second to commemorate Emily's 9th birthday, which was November 17th.
The family's happiness was overshadowed by the gradual disclosure of what Emily faced during her eight weeks in Gaza.
It was only when she stepped back that I could see her face was chiseled, like mine, whereas before it was chubby, girly, a young kid face.
Thomas brought their family dog to the reunion, and on their way home from the hospital, Thomas said that "the first thing she did was get a Beyoncé song on."
He was afraid his daughter was mad at him for not rescuing her from the terror attack, but once they were reunited, Emily told her father that she was scared he had also been taken hostage.
(Emily has been through so much; it's unimaginable.)
Thomas explained that she lost her mother when she was only two years old.
When Emily returned, she learned that her "second mom," Thomas' former wife, Narkis Hand, was murdered by terrorists on October. 7.
That was very hard. We told her and her little eyes glazed over and she took a sharp intake of breath.
Thomas Hand's worries about his daughter echo the concerns expressed by Devora Cohen. Cohen informed France's BFMTV that her 12-year-old nephew, Eitan Yahalomi, had been forced to watch videos of the gruesome atrocities of the October 7th attack while held hostage.
[If the children cried] they threatened them with rifles to shut them up.
...
When he arrived in Gaza, all the residents, everyone, beat him. He is a 12-year-old child.
Eitan, a dual French-Israeli citizen, was captured along with his father, Ohad, who is still believed to be detained in Gaza, as reported by the Times of Israel.
Thomas Hand informed CNN that moving forward, his priority is helping Emily's recovery and advocating for the release of the remaining hostages, including Raaya.
We have to get Raaya back for Hila, back for Emily, back for justice.
Don't go silent on us now ... Bring them home, bring them home.
Pray for them all to be reunited and to live in peace.
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