Tom Hand, whose daughter Emily was held hostage by Hamas for 50 days last year, received a phone call from an Israeli army family liaison officer on Saturday morning, informing him of the news, still under wraps, that one of the four hostages freed from Gaza was Noa Argamani (26), who had been with his daughter during her captivity in Gaza.
“First there were a few WhatsApp messages with rumours but I couldn’t tell Emily until it was confirmed. After the army called, I ran to Emily’s room to tell her the news,” says Hand, who is originally from Dún Laoghaire. Emily, then eight years old, was abducted while on a sleepover where her 13-year-old friend Hila in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas attacked on October 7th, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 more. The two friends were freed in November. Hand says they developed a close bond with Noa during their time as hostages.
“She immediately called her friend Hila who was also with Noa for 50 days of captivity. Emily was laughing and jumping up and down with joy. I haven’t stopped crying all day. It’s such good news.”
Reflecting on recent developments, Hand says he’s still proud to be Irish but is ashamed of the Irish Government. He remains grateful to the Government for their efforts to bring about Emily’s release but feels the recent decision by Dublin recognising a Palestinian state was a bad mistake.
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“Really the Irish Government was crucial, instrumental in fighting for Emily, including behind the scenes efforts which were kept quiet. But at the end of the day they are politicians and they don’t want to lose the pro-Palestinian vote and they want to be re-elected so they say stupid stuff like ‘she was lost and then she was found,’” Hand said, in a reference to the controversial comments by then taoiseach Leo Varadkar following Emily’s release. “He could have looked like a saint and taken the moral high ground but in the end he came out with those stupid words and was ridiculed throughout the world. But he himself was crucial, I have to say that, in getting her out.”
He rejects Dublin’s claim that recognition of Palestinian statehood is not akin to support for Hamas. “The leaders of a state of Palestine is Hamas. It is rewarding Hamas directly for their barbaric behaviour, their terrorism. It will embolden them to do more. It’s rewarding terrorism directly. So they’ll carry on.”
He says Emily has made a remarkable recovery after her ordeal but occasionally there are triggers reminding her of the traumatic period of her life she is trying to forget about.
“We were in a nice coffee house when we encountered a group of Bedouin,” he says, adding that he has no quarrels with the Bedouin. “They are beautiful people and a lot of them risked their own lives on October 7th rescuing hostages, but they spoke Arabic and were dressed in simple work clothes and Emily saw them as terrorists and she made a direct link with Gaza.”
Kibbutz Be’eri was one of the worst-hit border communities in the October 7th Hamas attack. Some 130 members of the kibbutz were killed, including women, children and babies, more than 10 per cent of the Be’eri community. Others still remain in Hamas captivity.
The government has to change before I would go back to Be’eri. They let it happen in the first place
— Tom Hand
An operation is under way to rebuild the kibbutz homes and communal buildings that were destroyed and damaged but it may be three years before the residents can return.
“We absolutely plan to return to Be’eri. That’s the dream of about 75 per cent of us. The other 25 per cent will never go back. They’ve got kids who, believe it or not, went through worse than myself and Emily went through. Kids who witnessed their own dad being killed, their brothers being killed. They’re not going to go back.”
Tom and Emily are currently living in a hotel on kibbutz Ein Gedi, close to the Dead Sea, but hope to move with most of the other Be’eri members temporarily to another kibbutz, Hatzerim in southern Israel, before the start of the new school year in September.
Hand says their return to Be’eri will depend on three factors.
“First of all the make up the government. Second, is the state of the army – who will be in charge there. And thirdly, the state of Hamas. Hamas has to be devastated as much as possible. Only after looking at that can we decide if it’s safe enough to sleep again in our own beds in Be’eri. The government has to change before I would go back to Be’eri. They let it happen in the first place.”
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