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Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar praised the release of Israeli Irish citizen, 9-year-old Emily Hand, late on Saturday night from 50 days of captivity in the hands of Hamas, but in a post on the X platform, he neglected to describe her as a freed hostage.
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"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 we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered," he posted.
His post drew angry responses because Emily was not lost. She was abducted from Be'eri, a kibbutz on the Israeli border with Gaza on October 7, where she was visiting, along with her friend Hila Rotem Shoshani. Emily witnessed her stepmother being murdered by Hamas terrorists. Hila was also released on Saturday night. Her mother, Raya, was not released despite the agreement negotiated with Hamas that stated children would not be separated from their mothers.
Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levi posted his angry response to the Irish prime minister's description of events.
"Emily Hand wasn't 'lost.' She was brutally abducted by the death squads that massacred her neighbors. She wasn't 'found.' Hamas knew where she was all along and cynically held her as a hostage. And Hamas didn't answer your prayers. It answered Israel's military pressure," Levy said.
Emily's father. Tom, who was told in the early stages after the October massacre, that his daughter had been killed, and only later learned that she was held captive, was finally reunited with her late on Saturday night following tense hours of uncertainty after Hamas threatened to hold on to the hostages, claiming Israel had violated the terms of the agreement by withholding aid to Gaza.