Israel slams Irish PM for 'lost' remark on 9-year-old hostage
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy bashed Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Sunday for his allegedly insensitive statement on the release of a nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage. Identified as Emily Hand, the young girl was among the second group of hostages released by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the early hours of Sunday. Notably, she was one of nearly 240 individuals kidnapped by terrorists during Hamas's October 7 cross-border attack on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 civilians.
Know about Irish PM said
On Saturday, the Irish PM took to X (formerly Twitter) and expressed his "enormous joy" over the nine-year-old's release. "An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief," Varadkar added. It was initially thought that Hand was among those killed during the October 7 attack in Kibbutz Be'eri. However, The Times of Israel reported that she was at a sleepover at a friend's house when she was abducted.
Levy's response to Varadkar
Reacting to this, Levy said that the Irish-Israeli girl wasn't "lost" but "brutally abducted" by the Palestinian terrorist group. Furthermore, he added that she would still be a hostage without the Israeli military's pressure on Hamas, which Ireland "shamefully" labeled as "something approaching revenge." The Israeli official also highlighted that there were still around 200 hostages in Hamas-controlled Gaza and that "none of us are free till all of them are free."
Check out Levy, Varadkar's X spat
Israeli spokesperson's sarcastic reply to Irish PM
In another post, Levy further criticized Varadkar's post on Hand and said, "This is how you describe a little girl who went missing during a stroll in a forest, then gets discovered by a friendly hiker." "Not a girl brutally abducted by death squads that brutally massacred her neighbors," he tweeted. "But this explains the extent of Ireland's contribution: prayers," added Levy.
2nd group of 17 Hamas-held hostages released
Meanwhile, a total of 17 hostages were released by the Palestinian terrorist group in the early hours of Sunday after a delay. As per the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have moved the hostages into Egypt, and they were on their way to southern Israel's Kerem Shalom border crossing. The IDF also confirmed the second group of released hostages included 13 Israeli citizens and four Thais.
Israel doesn't have right to do wrong: Varadkar
While the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States have backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "right to defend" Israel, Ireland has remained an exception. Following the October 7 attack, Varadkar said Israel had a right to defend "but doesn't have the right to do wrong." Later on, he also said that Israel's bombardment of Gaza "amounts to collective punishment." According to The Guardian, Israeli diplomats have long considered Ireland to be Europe's least sympathetic nation to their cause.
