Emily Hand, the nine-year-old hostage who was released is still struggling to talk about her time in Hamas custody more than two months later, often using code words to feel more comfortable dealing with it, according to her father.
Thomas Hand, Emily’s father, said in a new interview with the Israel Kan network that his daughter doesn’t talk much about her ordeal.
“Just once in a while, [she gives] little scraps of information,” said the parent. “But we weren’t actually allowed to question him in any way, from a psychiatrist’s point of view. They said, ‘No, whatever he wants to say voluntarily, let it out.'”
When Emily talks about what she’s been through, she uses the names of foods or things she doesn’t like as code words.
Turning to Emily, she asked: “What is Zeitim? (Hebrew for olive)?”
“Terrorists,” answered the girl.
“Any food or item he didn’t like, he transferred that word into code,” his father explained.
Asked why she created this code system, the Israeli-Irish girl, who was just 8 years old when she was abducted from the kibbutz during the October 7 attack, replied: “Sometimes I don’t feel comfortable saying these words.”
Emily Hand’s code word for Hamas terrorists is “olives,” because she doesn’t like the food. via REUTERS Emily Hand, 9, uses code words to talk about her 50 days in Hamas custody. Channel 12
The father said that from the time Emily was taken until she was released in a prisoner exchange in November, she had been persuaded by her captors – mostly men – from house to house in Gaza, “maybe taking a step in front of the IDF,” he said.
Emily said that in the cage – which she calls “the box” – none of the terrorists were nice to her.
At one point, his father said that a Hamas thug threatened his son, telling him: “Uskut” (Arabic for silence) or I will kill you with this knife.”
Hand’s father noted that he had returned from Gaza “a little more mature,” but at the same time “insecure.” Channel 12’s Thomas Hand, Emily’s father, said in a new interview with the Israel Kan network that his daughter doesn’t talk much about her ordeal. Channel 12
Thomas Hand said his daughter is “making progress” and recovering from her trauma, but he noted that she has returned from Gaza “a little more mature,” but at the same time “not safe.”
“He always wanted to know that the door was locked, that the shutters were closed,” his father said. “He wants to feel safe in the house.”
Hand made international headlines when, thinking that her son had been killed by terrorists during the deadly attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, she told reporters that her daughter’s death “was the best possibility.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
