The father of nine-year-old Emily Hand who was taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7th attack has said he didn’t believe she was alive until he “saw her little blue eyes”.

Emily was eventually reunited with her family after spending 50 days as a hostage with the group.

For one month after the attack, the family believed Emily had been killed – with her father Tom, who was born in Dún Laoghaire in Dublin, publicly saying he would prefer she was dead than be taken hostage.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Tom said learning she may still be alive was an incredible moment.

“From one minute being in grief, mourning for my daughter and my ex-wife - who we knew 100% was dead - I suddenly had hope that I could get her back,” he said.

“From being in a very depressed, low state, suddenly, I don’t know, the power of the Earth came into me, believe it or not.

“From the ground up, I felt it coming into me.”

Emily Hand in the One Day in October documentary. Image: Channel 4/Richard Ansett

Tom said he immediately decided he had to do everything in his power to get Emily home safe.

Within a few days, he had gathered a team and was on his way to Ireland to seek the support of the Government and President Michael D. Higgins.

“We spoke to everyone that we could speak to, to put pressure on - even though they didn't need it; they were already doing everything they could to get their own Irish citizen back,” he said.

“The driving force to get her back; it was the only thing I had left.”

In this photo provided by the Israeli Army Emily Hand is reunited with her father, 26-11-2023. Image: Associated Press / Alamy

Tom said he was “beyond himself” with joy the day Emily was freed – but he never believed it was happening until he saw her face.

“It was unbelievable because anything could have gone wrong from the moment that she was put on the list for release until her release,” he said.

“It was like 24 hours and you know, with these deal negotiations, either side can screw it up in a second.

“So, until I saw her little blue eyes, I didn't believe it. I had to keep myself just hoping – just hoping.”

Speaking after the attack, Tom initially said he would prefer Emily to be dead than a hostage.

He told Shane that was because he had heard about the conditions previous hostages were held in.

“With her being a girl, first of all, and a small child, I did not want her to go through that terror,” he said. “Literal terror, petrified for her life, not knowing what was going to happen to her from one day to the next.

“I didn’t want her to go through any of that torture, so in a way, I was very relieved that it was all over for her and for us, the family.”

Destroyed houses after the October 7th attack on Kibbutz Be'eri. Image: Channel 4

He said Emily has shown “amazing” strength and resilience since she has returned, despite the horrific things she has seen.

“The most recent thing she said was … ‘Abba (Father), you know, I saw lots of dead bodies when I was being taken away,’” Tom said.

“These are people that she knows, by sight, personally.

“People that she knew shot dead on the side of the road, where Hamas didn't have enough cars to take them away, so they just shot them at the side of the road.”

“For a nine-year-old kid - she was eight at the time - to see that … I don't know how she survives mentally.”

The One Day in October film hears from many of Tom and Emily’s friends and neighbours who were living at Kibbutz Be’rei ahead of the attack.

While some still express hope for peace, others warn that they now believe it is “them or us”.

Tom said people in the Kibbutz were ‘peace-loving’ and many worked to raise money for the people of Gaza.

Now, however, after all that has been through, he no longer has any hope for peace.

Around 1,200 people were killed when Hamas launched the surprise attack on October 7th last year, with another 250 taken hostage.

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the 12 months since has killed nearly 43,000 people, with around 100,000 injured.

The death toll from Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in the past month is now close to 2,500.