Father of 9-year-old former hostage Emily Hand says Israel must 'finish this job' in Gaza or 'it will all be for nothing'

The father of Emily Hand, the 9-year-old girl who was held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for 50 days, spoke at a conference organized by the World Zionist Organization in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Thomas Hand spoke out against critics of Israel, who accuse the Jewish state of acting disproportionately against Hamas in Gaza after the terrorist organization raped, looted, tortured, murdered and kidnapped citizens of southern Israel on Oct. 7.

“As a father, I have no proportion about our response to what they have done to us. It was atrocious, horrendous, frightening,” Hand told the conference attendees.

“I never want to see another day like that. They killed my friends, family, completely wiped out. There is no disproportion in our reaction to that and we are doing it, thank God. And I hope we do it to the very end because if we don't, all the tragedies – all the murders, the kidnapped, the raped, the tortured – it would be all for nothing. We have to go all the way to the end and finish this job.”

Hand noted that Israel must win a decisive victory over Hamas.

“If we back out before the job is done it will all be for nothing. They'll crawl back in the next 10 years, and it will all happen again, we have to stop it right now,” he added.

Hand has continued to advocate for the release of the remaining hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza.

“Since I got her back, I could have said 'Great, job done.' But we've still got loads of hostages still in there. Youngsters, women, God knows what they are going through. Men soldiers – they are probably going through a terrible time. We've got to get them back. I just want to keep the plight of the Jews, of the hostages, at the top of the list of the people's minds in the media. Because everything becomes old news in the end, unfortunately,” he said.

Hand spoke about his emotional response to the current situation.

“She [Emily Hand] looks sweet, she is sweet. And she got into people's hearts. And me crying all over the place on television, I never read from a script. Whatever question they ask me it just comes out. I never know what's going to come out. I'm not a politician, I'm not used to speaking at all, it's just natural emotion and I think that's what enters people's minds and hearts,” he said.

Hand was frank about the position of European leaders against Israel.

“The leaders do a lot behind the scenes but they have to be politicians. It is scary to speak out against the Muslims. The leaders need the votes, they don't want to lose the Muslim camp. The leaders in all of Europe ultimately want to be elected again,” said during his speech at the WZO event.