‘Overjoyed’: nine-year-old hostage Emily Hand returns to family in Israel

Photograph: Israel Defense Forces/Reuters

The family and friends of Emily Hand have spoken of their joy after Hamas released the nine-year-old Israeli-Irish girl from captivity in Gaza late on Saturday.

“Emily has come back to us,” her father said after an emotional reunion at a hospital in Israel.

In a statement, Emily’s family said: “We can’t find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days.”

Emily was initially feared dead after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, but was later counted among the hostages. She was one of a group of 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals who were released late on Saturday night as part of a deal that saw Israel free 39 Palestinian prisoners. In the West Bank, cheering crowds greeted Palestinian prisoners as they walked free from a jail.

“You don’t know, you can’t imagine they will come. You just can’t imagine it, what they will do, if they will talk about it,” said 10-year-old Talia, a friend of Emily. “We have a lot of questions, everyone wants to ask them, What happened there, what they did to them, if they ate and drank.”

Emily was at a sleepover in a friend’s house in the Be’eri kibbutz when she was abducted.

Her friend Hila, 13, was also released on Saturday but Hila’s mother, Raya Rotem, 54, is still being held captive. “We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hundreds of hostages yet to return,” Emily’s family added.

The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, spoke of the end of a “cruel torture” for Emily’s family. “An innocent girl who was lost has now been found and returned, and our country breathes a massive sigh of relief,” he said. The foreign minister, Micheál Martin, described the “precious and deeply moving moment” for Emily and her family.

Also among the hostages freed late on Saturday was 21-year-old Maya Regev, kidnapped by Hamas fighters in their deadly raid on the Supernova music festival along with her 18-year-old brother, Itay.

She was hit by gunfire while on the phone with their father and is expected to undergo a series of surgical operations, the Times of Israel has reported.

Her mother, Mirit Regev, said in a statement: “I am so excited and happy that Maya is on her way to us now. Nonetheless, my heart is split because my son Itay is still in Hamas captivity in Gaza.”

For residents of the Be’eri kibbutz, the Hands’ home, one of the communities worst hit by last month’s attack by Hamas, the release of some of the hostages was met with joy tinged with sadness.

Adi Shoham was freed with her son Naveh, eight, and her daughter Yahel, three on Saturday, but her husband, Tal Shoham, 38, remains in captivity.

Adi’s aunt Sharon Avigdori was also abducted in Be’eri with her daughter Noam, 12.

Adi’s cousin Inbal Tzach said: “This is the saddest joy and the happiest sadness, but our family is home.

“This is an emotional evening for the families who received their loved ones tonight. We will continue the struggle until everyone comes home.”

The mother of a Thai hostage freed from Gaza on Saturday described how she felt as her son was among the four most recent Thai nationals confirmed as released.

“My granddaughter called me at 5am saying my son was among the hostages released and I didn’t really believe it,” Thongkoon Onkaew told Reuters by phone on Sunday.

“Then she sent me the photo and I was like, ‘That’s my son! My son!’”

The Thai prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, said those released were in “good mental health and are able to speak normally”.

Among the latest group of Palestinians released was 38-year-old Israa Jaabis, sentenced to 11 years in jail for detonating a gas cylinder at a checkpoint in 2015.

Jaabis, wearing a wreath of yellow flowers, hugged relatives in her home on her return. “Thank God. My pain is visible, no need to speak about it,” she said, her face partially disfigured by burns. “I also have pain on an emotional level and I am missing my relatives. But this is the tax a prisoner pays.”

Young prisoners embraced relatives and were carried on their shoulders after walking free from the Ofer prison in the West Bank into a crowd waving the green flags of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades.

One released prisoner, Wael Bilal Mashy, said: “May God protect the resistance in Gaza, mercy for our martyrs, and healing for the wounded. Long live the resistance and long live all those who supported it.”

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report