After a week of ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the prisoner exchange agreement has secured the release of 105 Israeli hostages from Gaza and 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. After a thorough medical examination in the form of both physical and psychological tests, Israeli health personnel say that the hostages are in “good physical shape”. But several of them still struggle with psychological trauma. Afraid to raise her voice Nine-year-old Emily was captured by Hamas in the Israeli Kibbutz Be’eri near the border with the Gaza Strip. She was held hostage for 50 days. Thomas Hand first learned that his daughter was killed in the attack on Israel on 7 October this year. Later came the counter-notice that Emily was being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After 50 days in captivity, father Thomas finally got to see his daughter again last weekend. He quickly noticed that something was wrong. The sight that met him was a pale girl with a lifeless and serious face. She seemed disconnected from her surroundings. My daughter had lost weight, had lice and was mentally broken. – The most shocking and disturbing thing about the first meeting was that she just chirped. I couldn’t hear him. I had to put my ear to her lip. She had become the cow not to make a sound, the father said in an interview with CNN. Thomas Hand was informed that his daughter was killed in the attack against Israel on 7 October. Last weekend he got his beloved Emily back after 50 days in Hamas captivity. Photo: ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES / Reuters Thomas goes on to say that the daughter outlines a daily life characterized by fear and controlling guards who asked them to be quiet and always whispering. Occasionally the children were allowed to draw and play cards, but they were not allowed to make any sounds. This has led to her now having problems raising her voice. – Emily was not mistreated, but the stern voices were enough to control her, says the father. When Thomas asked his daughter how long she thought she had been awake, she replied “a year”. – Apart from the goosebumps, it was a blow to the stomach. One year, stutters the father. Does Emily understand what happened on October 7? – Yes. Unfortunately, she does, says Hand. Strongly traumatized In the interview, the father tells how Emily survived captivity and emphasizes that his daughter is strongly affected and has been inconsolable. – Last night she cried until her face was red and blotchy. She couldn’t hold back. She didn’t want comfort. I guess she has forgotten how to be comforted. She lay under the covers and wept quietly to herself. He thought the daughter was being held prisoner in a tunnel system. This turned out not to be true. – I thought Emily was in the tunnels, but she wasn’t. They were taken from house to house and constantly had to escape, he says. According to Thomas, the hostages had enough food to survive. Emily said that breakfast was always served, sometimes lunch and rarely something small in the evening. – She was so hungry that she learned to like bread with olive oil, the father told CNN. Looking forward Beyonce music and the dog Johnsie have been a good help in a difficult time, and are what it takes to bring out smiles and laughter, says the father. – Emily is a very determined little girl. Very strong. I know she will get through this, he points out. Thomas Hand has finally got his daughter home again. Now he wants to continue working to free the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP Now the goal is to get the daughter healthy, while he will work to get the remaining hostages home. After seven days of a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, the fighting is underway again in the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred Israeli hostages are still held in the Gaza Strip, while thousands of Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons. Several of the Palestinians are in so-called “administrative detention”, which means that they are imprisoned indefinitely without a sentence.
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Emily freed from captivity – just wanted to whisper to her father – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
