The half-sister of an Irish-Israeli girl feared kidnapped in Gaza has said the family is living a “constant nightmare”.
Emily Hand was originally feared dead after the Hamas assault on Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel on October 7th.
However, the eight-year-old’s family have been informed she may still be alive and being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Emily’s father, Thomas, is originally from Dublin.
Natalie Hand, her half-sister, said the family has got hope back after initially being told Emily was dead.
“We’ve been informed by the military and other authorities that the first line was that she’s kidnapped and alive, and they have a few intelligence, that they get all the sources combined and then they cross all the information together, we don’t know exactly the details, but we do know she’s kidnapped,” she told RTÉ Radio One.
“We just want to get her back and she’s an Irish citizen, and we’re asking all the help we can from you guys (in Ireland).”
She added: “If there’s a high possibility (of her being alive), even a small one, I will do everything I can to get her back.”
Ms Hand, whose own mother was killed in the Hamas attacks, said the family had been on a “hell of a rollercoaster” since October 7th.
“Grieving about my mom and her, and just, you know, we’re like zombies,” she said.
“We have no tears left. We’re just broken. And now we got hope back and we are strong now, and we’ll do anything.”
Ms Hand said she had never been to her father’s homeland.
“I’ve never been there but I’m going to, I have to, hopefully with my sister, my father and my brother,” she said.
“I have too many videos of her laughing and speaking. I want to hear that again. I just want to say ‘Emily we’re on the way’ and we will have her back, I know that.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said Irish authorities are making every effort possible to assist in securing the release of Emily.
Ms McEntee said the Hand family were going through an “absolutely unimaginable” experience.
The minister provided an update on the case as she spoke to reporters in Dublin on Monday morning.
She described the situation as a “changing and dynamic environment”.
“I think it has been confirmed that it is now believed that Emily is alive and obviously every effort, everything that can be done will be done to ensure that she is released and that she is safe,” Ms McEntee said.
“But this has been a hugely traumatic experience for her family. First, believing that she had passed away, and now potentially that not being the case.
“So I think we need to be very sensitive to the fact that this is a changing and dynamic environment for all involved.
“Every effort, every single thing that can be done, will be done. We also know that there are many other Irish citizens on the ground in Gaza who are trying to leave and we obviously want them to be able to get out and to get home and to be safe.”
Around 35-40 Irish passports remain in Gaza amid intense diplomatic efforts to secure their passage out of the enclave via the Rafah crossing to Egypt.
No Irish citizens have so far been included on the approved lists of international passport holders who have left via the crossing.
