A devastated father said it was a “blessing” that his eight-year-old daughter had been killed by Hamas, because death was better than being taken hostage.<br /><br />Thomas Hand faced a two-day wait for news about his daughter, Emily, after militants stormed their kibbutz on Saturday 7 October, massacring at least 100 people.<br /><br />He did not know the whereabouts or fate of his child after she had gone to sleep at a neighbour’s house.<br /><br />In a heartbreaking interview with CNN, Mr Hand broke down as he recounted the moment he was told Emily’s body had been found.<br /><br />“I just went ‘Yes!’ and I smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew,” he explained.<br /><br />“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.”<br /><br />Mr Hand added that Emily’s death was an “absolute blessing”.
