Her voice was stolen - that's the headline The Sun gave about Emily Hand, who was released from Hamas captivity this week.

9-year-old Emily was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during a bloody attack on kibbutzim in southern Israel. Some sources first assumed that the little girl had been killed by terrorists on October 7, but it was later revealed that she had actually been dragged to Gaza, where she spent more than 50 days in captivity before being released this week.

In the article, the girl's father mentions that "Emily used to be a happy, cheerful child, now she is always whispering and terrified," and added that the child was terrorized while she was in captivity.

In an interview with CNN, Thomas Hand, Emily's father, told how his daughter was dragged by the terrorists on that bloody Saturday morning, and finally dragged to Gaza.

"It must have been terrifying for the poor man as the terrorists dragged him and pushed him while carrying out a bloody execution against the innocent residents," said the father.

This is one of the details her daughter slowly shared with her about what happened on October 7th. The little girl, slowly, little by little, tells what happened to her.

Emily, who spent her ninth birthday in captivity, was kidnapped by Hamas along with her girlfriend and her mother.

His girlfriend's mother took care of Emily as her own, but before the two little girls were released, the woman was separated from them and the terrorists did not let her go, contrary to the agreements made between Hamas and Israel. This is also part of the cruel psychological warfare.

Emily was visiting her friend in the Beeri kibbutz when the terrorists attacked and executed at least 130 residents of the kibbutz in cold blood, and took many of them to Gaza.

About two days later, kibbutz leaders said they had found Emily's body.

"It was the best news I could have received at the time. I believed that death was better than being held captive by Hamas. Who knows what they would have done to my daughter, it's bad to even think about it..." - the father thought at the time.

Then came the twist, almost a month later, the Israeli army told him that Emily was "highly likely" to be alive.

"From then on, every day was agony for me, I didn't know what was wrong with my daughter. It was terrible.”

Eight weeks after she last saw her daughter, Hand learned that Emily was on the list of the second group of hostages to be released as part of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The man tried to contain his excitement as he reached the base where the freed hostages were being taken. After a long delay, the news came: the girl is with the Red Cross.

“Suddenly the door opened and he just ran towards me. It was a beautiful feeling, it was exactly how I had imagined it so many times," said Thomas.

“It was only when I stepped back that I saw my daughter's face had sunk in, her eyes glassy and terribly pale. Her hair was full of lice. Before that, she had a small, chubby, girlish, childish face."

Like the other hostages, Emily lost a lot of weight.

"However, the most shocking and upsetting part was that he only whispered, you couldn't hear what he said. I had to put my ear to his lips to understand what he was talking about," he said, adding that the child was forced in captivity not to make any noise.

The father also brought the family dog ​​with him to the first meeting in order to offer unconditional love to the child. He was afraid that Emily would be angry with him for not saving him from captivity. And when he asked her how long she thought she'd been away, she said "a year."

“Besides the whispering, it affected me as if I had been punched in the stomach. One year!" said the father.

According to Hand, the hostages had enough food to survive and always had something to drink.

The little girl also said that they were not physically abused, her father interpreted this to mean that aggressive behavior and loud voices were enough to keep the hostages quiet. The children could only draw or play cards.

Emily was only 2 years old when she lost her mother to a serious illness. His stepmother was killed in the attack on October 7.

"It was very difficult to talk to him about it. When we told her the sad news, her little eyes widened and she breathed heavily,” Hand said.

However, he is slowly starting to process things. He is afraid to fall asleep, so he drags out the bed as long as possible.

“Last night she cried until her face was red and blotchy, she couldn't stop sobbing. He didn't want me to comfort him or touch him. I think she's forgotten what it's like to be comforted," Hand said, adding that the little girl got under the covers of the bed, covered herself completely and cried quietly.

Thomas Hand now focuses on several things: he wants to heal his daughter's soul as soon as possible, and he also does everything to ensure that the mother of his daughter's girlfriend can also get home with all the other hostages.

"We must fight for the release of the hostages! No one should be silent, let's give a voice to the abducted," concluded Hand.

Jewish.com

Cover photo: Emily with her father after her release
Source: The Hill