November 8, 2023 Thomas Hand, father of Emily Hand, a nine-year-old girl who was released Saturday evening after being kidnapped in the October 7 Hamas massacre, spoke to CNN about his daughter's traumatic experiences during her 50 days in captivity.
Hand said that while he wants to know what his child went through, she can only talk about those dark days when she is ready.
He claimed that when she was kidnapped, she was "pulled, pushed" by her captors through Kibbutz Be'eri and taken to a place in Gaza that he calls "the box."
Hand described his encounter with his daughter Saturday evening, saying that “all of a sudden the door opened and she just came running. It was beautiful, just as I imagined it – running together.”
But when he took a good look at his daughter, he noticed that "her face was sculpted like mine, whereas before it had been a plump, girlish, little child's face."
Emily had lost a lot of weight in her 50 days in captivity and was paler than he had ever seen her.
He then stated that he was shocked that Emily only whispered because for the past month and a half, her Hamas captors had been ordering her not to make any noise. “You could just see the terror in the glassy eyes,” he said.
When Hand asked Emily how long she thought she had been held in Gaza, she replied "a year," when in fact she had been held for less than two months.
“Apart from the whispers, it was a punch in the gut. A year," he said.
Hand said he learned from Emily that the group of hostages she was with regularly ate only breakfast and sometimes ate something for lunch and dinner, and she would be so hungry that she loved bread with olive oil alone. He further stated that the kidnappers never hit her because the threat of their voices was enough to keep the hostages in line.
He said that when Emily returned to him, her head was covered in lice and last night she "cried until her face was red and swollen."
Since October 7th, Jewish students across college campuses have been exposed to some of the most horrific and disgusting antisemitism we have seen.
Benjamin Meppen, a Jewish student at @nyuniversity studying film, decided to document what Jewish life in New York City has looked like since October 7th and submit this short film as his final project.
We are in awe of the Jewish students across college campuses who stand proudly and defiantly in the face of hate and adversity.
Watch:
This is Shlomo. He enjoys fixing old toys with his grandchildren. Shlomo survived the Farhud, the massacre of #Jews in Iraq, in 1941. On Oct 7, Shlomo was abducted by #Hamas from Kissufim in southern #Israel & dragged into Gaza. He's been there ever since. #BringThemHomeNOW
@VivekGRamaswamy@govt_corrupt Moral Relativism is the new Religion. Forces in power are working overtime to destroy the both the nuclear family and what it is to be human.
- Laura Aboli
TRUTH.
1. God is real.
2. There are two genders.
3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.
4. Reverse racism is racism.
5. An open border is no border.
6. Parents determine the education of their children.
7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.
8. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty.
9. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four.
10. The U.S. constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.
#13 - What we take away is this: you can not outsource your health to the medical system because there’s a good chance “it’s going to kill you.” Instead, consider Marik’s suggestions by sleeping right, getting enough sunshine, lowering stress, and adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Live update: Images of arrested Gazans in underwear ‘uncomfortable,’ but they were detained for a reason — official https://t.co/0uEj8RQwiH . Click to read ⬇️