The father of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was just released from Hamas terrorists, revealed the most “shocking” and “disturbing” part about his daughter’s release in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
Hand was kidnapped from the Kibbutz on Oct. 7 alongside her friend and her friend’s mother while having a sleepover. Her father, Thomas, was initially informed his daughter was killed, telling CNN at the time that he was happy that she was killed because he could not imagine the horrors those who were kidnapped would face.
Authorities later informed Thomas that Emily had been among those taken hostage.
Thomas told CNN on Tuesday that upon his daughter’s return, he noticed her face was extremely thin, her skin was quite pale, but that she spoke in whispers. (RELATED: Sara Haines Claims Israel Was Holding Palestinians ‘Hostage’)
“And all of a sudden the door opened up and she just ran. It was beautiful. Just like in — just like I imagined it, you know. Running together. I squeezed. I probably squeezed too hard. So only when she stepped back a little I could see her, her face was chiseled, like mine. Before she left, it was, you know, chubby, girly, young kid face. Yeah, she lost a lot of body weight. And the color, I have never seen her so white,” Thomas told CNN.
“The other and most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was she was just whispering. Couldn’t hear her. I had to put my ear on her lips, like this close and say, what did you say?”
“‘I thought you were kidnapped’,” Thomas recounted what Emily said to him.
“She said ‘I thought you were kidnapped?'” CNN’s Clarissa Ward asked.
“She thought I was in captivity,” Thomas explained. “They thought they kidnapped me. She didn’t know what the hell happened that morning. So, she presumed everyone is kidnapped or killed or slaughtered. She had no idea.”
Psychiatrists at the hospital are “optimistic” about Emily’s recovery, according to CNN. Emily, however, “without indicating why” hid underneath her covers and began sobbing Monday night for an hour but would not talk to anyone about it, CNN reported.