A devastated father said he welcomed the news that his eight-year-old daughter had been killed by Hamas terrorists, rather than being taken hostage during the barbaric attack on the Be’eri Kibbutz.
Thomas Hand faced an unbearable two-day wait for news about his daughter Emily after Palestinian terrorists stormed their kibbutz at around 7am on Saturday, massacring at least 100 people.
Hand said the kibbutz was pinned down under the gunfire for around 12 hours that day, during which he did not know the whereabouts or fate of his child after she had gone to sleep at a neighbor’s house – something she rarely did.
In a heartbreaking interview with CNN, Hand broke down in tears as he recounted the moment he was finally told his daughter’s body had been found – and said his reaction was one of relief that she had not been kidnapped instead.
‘They said, “We found Emily. She’s dead,” and I just went “Yes!” I went “yes”, and I smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew,’ Hand said in a shaking voice.
Devastated father Thomas Hand tearfully recalls finding out his eight-year-old daughter was killed by Hamas terrorists
Eight-year-old Emily Hand was murdered by Hamas terrorists on Saturday at Kibbutz Be’eri. Her father said he was relieved when he found out his daughter was dead rather than a captive of the Palestinian terrorists who would have tortured her in Gaza
‘She doesn’t do it very often, but unfortunately that night, that particular night – Friday night – she went to sleep at her friend’s house,’ recounted Hand.
The next morning, the kibbutz was under attack.
Hand described how he felt during the siege: ‘I’m thinking, the Army are going to be here soon. Just hold on a bit longer, and longer, and longer.’
Later, when Hand was informed of his daughter’s murder he said: ‘I just went “Yes!”‘
‘That was the best news of the possibilities that I knew…’ he trailed off through tears.
‘She was either dead, or in Gaza. And if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death,’ he said.
‘They’d have no food. They’d have no water. She’d be in a dark room filled with Christ knows how many people. And terrified every minute, hour, day, and possible years to come. So death was a blessing. An absolute blessing.’
Beyond the estimated 1,200 Israelis Hamas butchered over the weekend, the Palestinian terrorists kidnapped scores of Israelis, and some 20 Americans whose conditions and whereabouts remain unknown.
The agents of Hamas committed unimaginable acts of violence against innocent Israelis, including raping and dragging through the streets the bodies of women and girls, burning families alive, and reportedly decapitating babies.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Force took reporters including a Fox News crew to Be’eri, which is just three miles from the Gaza border.
The kibbutz was, until Saturday, known as an artistic and farming community of 1,200 people.
Pictured: Emily Hand. The eight-year-old girl had stayed the night at a friend’s house on Friday, her father Thomas said. For 12 hours while the kibbutz was under siege, he did not know the fate or whereabouts of his little girl
An IDF soldier walks past body bags of over 20 dead Hamas militants with the word “terrorist” written in Hebrew, on a main field at Kibbutz Be’eri, where dozens of civilians were killed days earlier
A rifle lies on top of a dead Hamas terrorist’s body at the nearby K’far Aza, which was also stormed by Palestinian terrorists on Saturday
An Israeli soldier walks past a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be’eri on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023
A destroyed home at Kibbutz Be’eri, which sustained 12 hours of terror activity before IDF soldiers arrived to seize back the territory
The site was not declared safe for outsiders until Tuesday when all the bodies of Israeli victims had been removed. The burnt and mangled corpses of Hamas fighters were, however, still lying in heaps on the outskirts of the kibbutz.
The smells of blood and death were sickening according to multiple reporters.
Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst brought viewers inside one of the bullet-riddles houses on the property.
‘You can see the floors are stained with blood,’ he said.
‘It was Saturday morning, around 7am, when militants stormed this village. You can see the weapons they brought with them, extra ammunition, bullet holes in the side of the house and knives on the floor.’
‘It is completely destroyed. It looks like some of the buildings were hit with RPGs, explosives.’
He said he came across rooms ‘covered in blood,’ in which residents had been murdered in their beds. Some of the victims were beheaded, according to the IDF.
Yingst tweeted photos of the destroyed houses inside the kibbutz
The Fox News reporter showed blood-stained floors and bullet-ridden homes
A house left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants on this kibbutz days earlier when dozens of civilians were killed near the border with Gaza on Tuesday
Cars and a stroller left behind at the scene of a rocket attack from Gaza on the weekend are pictured on a main road near the entrance of the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza
‘Worse than ISIS’: Photo of bloodied child’s bed posted by Israeli PM Netanyahu
A baby’s seat and child’s dress is seen covered in blood in the aftermath of a Hamas attack
Gunshots and blood stains are seen on a door and walls of a house where civilians were killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas on this kibbutz near the border with Gaza on Tuesday
A soldier is overcome with emotion as he searches for bodies in the kibbutz
Yingst described the scene as ‘hell on earth.’ He said it was the most horrifying site he has been to in his career reporting around the world.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and made it clear that Gaza would feel the impact of Israel’s retaliation for decades to come.
This week, Israeli airstrikes demolished entire neighborhoods and sent people scrambling to find safety. The war is only expected to escalate from here.
Netanyahu has promised that his military will ensure the deaths of every Hamas agent.
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