Moment Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand (9) is reunited with father after release by Hamas

A video released on Sunday morning shows Emily embracing her father Thomas Hand in an emotional reunion.

On Saturday, Mr Hand had confirmed to Irish officials that he had been told his daughter is among the 13 hostages released tonight and that he was waiting for her.

Earlier on Saturday night, various media reports stated that after crossing the border to Egypt the hostages will be positively identified by Israeli security officials and flown by helicopter to a hospital in Israel.

Emily was seized from her home in on October 7th.

Israeli boy sprints into family's arms after six weeks in Hamas captivity

She was included in the second batch of Israelis to be released as part of a deal under which 50 Israeli children, mothers and elderly women are being released in four instalments over a four-day period, during which a ceasefire is being observed in Gaza by both sides.

The Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and Mary Lou McDonald have all welcomed the news of Emily’s release.

Micheál Martin said in a statement: “I am delighted that Emily Hand – a bright and beautiful young girl – has been released and will be reunited with her family.

“After weeks of trauma, this is a precious and deeply moving moment for the Hand family. The people of Ireland have been touched by Emily’s story, her innocence and the quiet dignity and determination of her father, Tom.”

Leo Varadkar added: “This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and our country breathes a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.

“A little girl was snatched from her home and held captive for almost seven weeks. She spent her ninth birthday as a hostage. We hope she will soon heal and recover from the traumatic experience in the loving embrace of her family.

“For her family, these seven weeks have been a slow and cruel torture. We all recall the initial response from her father Tom Hand – the painful grief mixed with relief with the mistaken belief that his daughter had not been taken hostage, which turned into an ember of hope when it was discovered she was still alive. Throughout all these different emotions his love has been constant.”

Mary Lou McDonald said: “I welcome confirmation that Emily Hand has been released. The trauma and heartbreak that little Emily and her family have been subjected to over the last number of weeks is unimaginable.

“I reiterate my call that all hostages be released urgently and for an immediate full ceasefire to be in place. Ireland must continue to be a voice for peaceful dialogue on the international stage.”

Qatari and Egyptian mediators earlier said Hamas had agreed to release 13 Israelis and seven foreign nationals on Saturday in exchange for 39 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The announcement came after Hamas delayed the releases for several hours, saying Israel had violated the terms of a truce deal that had set the stage for such swaps.

Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, told the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV channel that the suspension was due to violations of the truce committed by Israel "linked to aid (entering Gaza), in addition to shootings and the rising death toll ... Some of (these violations) happened yesterday, and repeated today," Hamdan said.

Hamas was expected to release a second group of Israelis on Saturday under a deal to allow an exchange of 50 hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Earlier, Egyptian security sources had said they had received the names of 14 Israeli women and children from Hamas and were waiting for more details.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that Cairo was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement which would mean "the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails."

Under the existing deal, a total of 50 hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted on weapon charges and violent offences, over four days. The first exchange took place on Friday.

Among the Israelis freed on Friday after almost 50 days in captivity in Gaza was nine-year-old Ohad Munder, who ran down a hospital corridor in Israel into his father's open arms, footage released by the hospital showed.

He and three other children released at the same time were in relatively good condition, Gilat Livni, the centre's Director of Paediatrics told reporters.

"I dreamt we came home," another hostage, four-year-old Raz Asher, said sitting in her father's arms on a hospital bed after she and her mother and younger sister were freed. "Now the dream came true," her father, Yoni, replied.

Hamas fighters freed a total of 24 hostages on Friday - 13 Israelis, 10 Thai farm workers and a Filipino - and Israel later released 39 Palestinian women and teenagers from detention.

AID TRUCKS

Both sides have said hostilities would resume as soon as the truce ends, though U.S. President Joe Biden said there was a real chance of extending the truce.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its fighters killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages after they broke through security barriers around the Gaza Strip and rampaged through Israeli communities around the blockaded enclave.

Since then, Israel has rained bombs on Gaza, killing about 14,000 people, roughly 40% of them children, Palestinian health authorities say.

For many of the 2.3 million people who live in the tiny Gaza Strip, the pause in the near-constant air and artillery strikes has offered a first chance to safely move around, take stock of the devastation, and seek access to aid imports.

"We hope the truce will continue and be permanent, not just four or five days. People cannot pay the cost of this war," said Ayman Nofal, in a street market in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Fifty trucks carrying food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies, have been deployed to the northern Gaza Strip and to shelters in non-evacuated areas of the Palestinian enclave, Israel said.

This was the first time since the start of the war that a significant amount of aid was deployed to northern Gaza, according to the Israeli Defence Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.

A U.N. convoy delivered aid to two shelters for displaced people in northern Gaza for the first time in over a month, the U.N. humanitarian office said.

"We are happy with the truce, it gave the people the opportunity to breathe a little bit," Palestinian resident Haitham Ahmed said.

Four fuel trucks and four more carrying cooking gas passed through the Rafah crossing into Gaza early on Saturday. Palestinians, suffering acute fuel shortages due to Israel's blockade of the enclave, stood in long queues to fill their gas cylinders.

But Mohammed Ghandour who waited five hours to fill his cylindrical metal canister, left empty-handed. "I'm now going home without gas," he said.

Aid groups have also used the temporary truce to evacuate patients and health workers from some northern hospitals that have all but collapsed due to attacks and lack of fuel.

'STILL AFRAID'

Thailand welcomed the release of 10 of its nationals from Gaza on Friday under a separate track mediated by Egypt and Qatar, and said a further 20 were still behind held. Iran said it helped facilitate that release.

Among those freed was Thai farm worker Vetoon Phoome, whose family thought he had been killed in the Hamas attack seven weeks ago, according to his sister, Roongarun Wichagern.

In Palestinian homes, the joy of being reunited with loved ones was tinged with bitterness. In at least three cases, prior to the prisoners' release, Israeli police raided their families' homes in Jerusalem, witnesses said. Police declined to comment.

"There is no real joy, even this little joy we feel as we wait," said Sawsan Bkeer, the mother of 24-year-old Palestinian Marah Bkeer, jailed for eight years on knife and assault charges in 2015.

Israeli police were seen raiding her Jerusalem home before her daughter's release.

"We are still afraid to feel happy," she added.

In Khan Younis, Tahani al-Najjar, a Palestinian woman returning to home to find it in ruins, said a pause in the fighting was not enough.

"Tell me what we got out of this truce?," she asked. "What we got out of this truce? You only made our hearts hurt. Do you want to find a solution for us? You should make a permanent truce for us.”