One of the youngest hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023 had experienced a terrible ordeal. Emily Hand, who was 8 at that time, described the moment she was captured at knife-point in a rare interview.
Originally from Dublin and an Irish citizen, nine-year-old Emily was bundled into a car by members of the terror group from Gaza. Sfter that, she spent 50 days held hostage in the enclave under terrible conditions before being released as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
Emily was staying with a friend at the Be’eri Kibbutz when Hamas struck and carried her away.
"When they arrived, we just opened up. Because if we held the door they’d shoot and the bullets would hit us," she told Channel 4 in a documentary to be aired recently. "So we just opened the door," she added.
"They threatened us with a knife. If we resist, they’ll kill us," Emily said, describing the moment she was taken from a small Israeli community known for being home to many Left-leaning peace activists.
"They put a blanket over us so that we won’t see and maybe run away. So we won't know the way back."
Emily was abducted along with her friend Hila Rotem-Shoshani and Hila’s mother Rayaa.
"There were about five to seven terrorists. They grabbed me by the shirt and said 'you're coming to Gaza'," Rotem-Shoshani said. "We saw corpses everywhere."
Hila said that Emily was terrified and kept asking what the terrorists were saying.
Once popular as a holiday destination, the Be’eri kibbutz is now associated with the October attack, in which 101 Israeli civilians and 31 security personnel were killed. During the course of the massacre, 125 of the kibbutz’s homes were also damaged or destroyed.