A Dublin man, whose eight-year-old daughter was shot dead by Hamas in southern Israel, has said he is still waiting for her body to be released by the authorities.
Now living in a hotel near the Dead Sea, along with other members of the kibbutz Be'eri, Tom Hand said the identification process is delayed by the sheer numbers of those massacred on 7 October.
Speaking to RTÉ News, he said his daily routine now involves going to multiple funerals, as he plans his daughter Emily's cremation.
He said the body of the mother of two of his other children has been found in the Kibbutz, a week after the attack.
Mr Hand, who is originally from Dun Laoghaire, said he is getting all the supports he needs at the hotel - although what the future holds is completely unknown.
He explained that it took three days before he was informed of Emily's killing: "They said we found your daughter. She's been found in the kibbutz. And she has been found dead."
Explaining his reaction to the news, Mr Hand added: "I said thank God. Thank God. It was the better option. Between being killed and kidnapped, I would take being killed any day of the week."
Asked to explain that feeling, he said: "In a normal world it is ridiculous…crazy… unfathomable.. but that is how I felt - honestly."
Emily had gone to stay at a friend's house the night before the attack.
Mr Hand said he still does not know what happened to her little friend and her mother.
Mr Hand added: "All Emily's friends usually sleep at mine. This particular night, it was just bad luck."
He said life at kibbutz Be'eri had been "paradise on earth" and Emily had been a very happy child playing netball, volleyball and gymnastics.
On 7 October, he said he was woken by explosions but the usual air raid sirens did not sound. When he heard gunfire, he knew there was trouble.
Mr Hand spent two to three hours in a safe room in his house, before emerging with his 9mm pistol.
He said Hamas was "… on a killing spree - trying to kill, maim and kidnap as many as possible, in as short a time as possible... I was going to go out standing on my feet, not cowering in a corner."
Mr Hand said investigators were still finding bodies at the kibbutz, so it was unclear how many hostages had been taken to Gaza.
He added: "Hopefully they will be released at some point. They must be released. The world has to ask Hamas to release… civilians… kids and babies - literally - elderly and infirm. That's not war."
RTÉ Correspondent Paul Cunningham with Tom Hand
He said funerals for those killed at the kibbutz are held "every day - on the hour, every hour till about 5 o'clock in the evening."
He said: "We all grieve together. We're a very tight community. I feel their pain. They feel my pain. It’s a collective grief."
Mr Hand said so many people he worked with every day were now "gone… killed by terrorists. They are not militants. They are not militants at all. They're not freedom fighters."
Earlier this month, in an interview with CNN, Mr Hand said he came to Ee'eri 30 years ago as a volunteer and never left.
His wife, Emily's mother, died of cancer a few years ago, according to the CNN article.
