Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has accused Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar of "normalizing terrorism" after he celebrated the release of 9-year-old Israeli-Irish girl Emily Hand, saying: " was lost" and not to mention that he was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
"Mr. Prime Minister, it seems that you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check. Emily Hand was not 'lost', she was kidnapped by a terrorist organization worse than the Islamic State that murdered her stepmother," he said on the social network Eli Cohen, in a post addressed to Varadkar, whom he accused of "legitimizing and normalizing terrorism," and snapped: "Shame on you!"
Hours earlier, Varadkar had celebrated in a statement through X the release of Hand along with 12 other Israeli hostages who left Gaza yesterday as part of the agreement to exchange hostages for prisoners and the temporary ceasefire with Hamas.
"This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent girl who was lost has now been found and returned, we breathe with great relief," said the Irish president, in a comment that made no reference to Hamas. nor to the fact that the minor was held captive at the hands of the Palestinian militias.
Hand had been kidnapped during the militants' attack on October 7 in Israel, when she was in her place of residence, Kibbutz Beeri, a collective community a few kilometers from Gaza, where dozens of people were killed and about 80 taken hostage.
Hand's stepmother was killed in the attack, while the girl was taken to Gaza along with a friend she was with.
Yesterday she was finally released with 12 other Israelis, all women and minors, beyond the release of four Thais who were employees in agricultural communities near Gaza.
