Father welcomes news Hamas killed daughter rather than kidnapped her

A devastated father has said welcomed the news that his eight-year-old daughter had been killed by Hamas terrorists because it was better than being taken hostage during the barbaric attack on the Be'eri Kibbutz.

British dad Thomas Hand (pictured) faced an unbearable two-day wait for news about his daughter Emily after Palestinian terrorists stormed their kibbutz at around 7am on Saturday, massacring at least 100 people. Mr Hand said the kibbutz was pinned down under the gunfire for around 12 hours that day, during which he did not know the whereabouts or fate of his child after she had gone to sleep at a neighbor's house - something she rarely did.

In a heartbreaking interview with CNN, Mr Hand broke down in tears as he recounted the moment he was finally told his daughter's body had been found - and said his reaction was one of relief that she had not been kidnapped instead. 'They said, "We found Emily. She's dead," and I just went "Yes!" I went "yes", and I smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew,' Hand said in a shaking voice. 'She doesn't do it very often, but unfortunately that night, that particular night - Friday night - she went to sleep at her friend's house,' recounted Hand.

The next morning, the kibbutz was under attack. Hand described how he felt during the siege: 'I'm thinking, the Army are going to be here soon. Just hold on a bit longer, and longer, and longer.' Later, when Hand was informed of his daughter's murder he said: 'I just went "Yes!"' 'That was the best news of the possibilities that I knew...' he trailed off through tears. '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,' he said. 'They'd have no food. They'd have no water. She'd be in a dark room filled with Christ knows how many people. And terrified every minute, hour, day, and possible years to come. So death was a blessing. An absolute blessing.'

Beyond the estimated 1,200 Israelis Hamas butchered over the weekend, the Palestinian terrorists kidnapped scores of Israelis, and some 20 Americans whose conditions and whereabouts remain unknown. The agents of Hamas committed unimaginable acts of violence against innocent Israelis, including sexual assault and dragging through the streets the bodies of women and girls, burning families alive, and reportedly decapitating babies. On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Force took reporters including a Fox News crew to Be'eri, which is just three miles from the Gaza border.

The kibbutz was, until Saturday, known as an artistic and farming community of 1,200 people. The site was not declared safe for outsiders until Tuesday when all the bodies of Israeli victims had been removed. The burnt and mangled bodies of Hamas fighters were, however, still lying in heaps on the outskirts of the kibbutz. The smells of blood and death were sickening according to multiple reporters.

Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst brought viewers inside one of the bullet-riddles houses on the property. 'You can see the floors are stained with blood,' he said. 'It was Saturday morning, around 7am, when militants stormed this village. You can see the weapons they brought with them, extra ammunition, bullet holes in the side of the house and knives on the floor. It is completely destroyed. It looks like some of the buildings were hit with RPGs, explosives.'

He said he came across rooms 'covered in blood,' in which residents had been murdered in their beds. Some of the victims were beheaded, according to the IDF. Yingst described the scene as 'hell on earth.' He said it was the most horrifying site he has been to in his career reporting around the world. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and made it clear that Gaza would feel the impact of Israel's retaliation for decades to come.

This week, Israeli airstrikes demolished entire neighborhoods and sent people scrambling to find safety. The war is only expected to escalate from here. Netanyahu has promised that his military will ensure the deaths of every Hamas agent. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12621843/Father-Thomas-Hand-WELCOMES-news-8-year-old-daughter-Emily-killed-Hamas-monsters-kidnapped-taken-hostage-waiting-two-agonizing-days-update-Death-blessing.html?ito=msngallery

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