A Dublin dad has sent a message to his daughter who is being held hostage in Gaza after he thought she had been killed.
Thomas Hand had previously believed his eight-year-old daughter Emily had been killed during the attack on Be'eri Kibbutz on 7 October.
However, after providing Emily’s dental records, his DNA samples and photos of her for identification, the Irish Embassy in Israel confirmed this had led authorities to believe she was not among those killed.
Read more: Irish dad waited two days to hear daughter (8) was killed in Hamas attack: ‘Death was a blessing’
Thomas opened up about the difficult situation, telling ABC News: “Now, I'm back in the nightmare.
“I don't know how they've taken her, dragged her, pushed her along, screaming at her, shouting at her.
“I don't know how terrified she is just being taken away. Being taken out of the kibbutz, taken to Gaza, down into the tunnels of Gaza, that's a creepy, scary place.
“I'm imagining all her terror along the way.”
Emily is set to turn nine-years-old next week, with her father sending her a message, he said: “You will survive it. And we'll get you home and never let you out of our sights again.”
Emily had been staying over at a friend’s house on the night the attack took place.
“Once I was told that Emily was dead shocking as it was, how awful it was and then find out [Emily's half-sister] Natali’s mum was dead,” Thomas recalled.
“I thought my family nightmare was over, that we could just begin the normal procedure of grieving."
He added: “And we did. We started to grieve and then the new information came that actually she’s probably not dead she’s probably been taken to Gaza.
“So that was hard. It was hard to take, because immediately your mind starts thinking how she would have been taken, what conditions she’s living in now.”
The Dublin native explained that his daughter’s friend’s phone and her friend’s mother’s phone had been tracked to Gaza.
Speaking on Virgin Media News, he spoke to those that kidnapped Emily, saying: “I beg you, on bent knees, to please release the children including Emily.
“Have some humanity, have some pity, some humane feelings of any kind please.
“I just want my little girl back.”
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