Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has been criticised by Israel for saying a nine-year-old girl kidnapped by Hamas was “lost and has now been found”.

Emily Hand, 9, is reunited with her father in Israel on Sunday .

Responding to the release of Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli schoolgirl, the Taoiseach said: “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.”

Israel’s foreign minister hit out at the statement, telling Mr Varadkar that it was inappropriate to suggest Emily was simply “lost” when she had in fact been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.

“Mr Prime Minister. It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!” Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, said on social media.

“Emily Hand was not ‘lost’, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation (sic) worse than ISIS that murdered her stepmother. “

The minister added that Hamas has taken more than 30 children hostage, and accused the Irish taoiseach of trying to legitimise and normalise terror.

“Shame on you,” he concluded.

Israel subsequently summoned Ireland’s ambassador to Tel Aviv for a “reprimand”.

Ireland has angered Israel on various occasions since the Oct 7 Hamas incursion on Israel.

Early in November, the Taoiseach said Israel had gone beyond its right to self-defence with its actions in Gaza and warned that collective punishment was a breach of international law.

Ireland has a long history of supporting Palestinian freedom and peace in the region. Videos of Irish politicians criticising the Israeli government have gone viral on social media in recent weeks.

Israel’s government spokesman Eylon Levy said: “Emily Hand wasn’t ‘lost’. She was brutally abducted by the death squads that massacred her neighbours. 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.”

In response to the criticism, Mr Varadkar said he was referring to “the amazing joy” when a “child comes home” and that the most important thing was that Emily is at home with her family, adding “that’s all that really matters”.

He added he has always been consistent in his unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and the taking of hostages.

“I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel,” he said

Conor McGregor torches Ireland's PM over response to Hamas release of child hostage.

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor ripped the prime minister of Ireland for "downplaying" the kidnapping and eventual release of an Irish-Israeli child by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.

McGregor called Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar a "disgrace" after he used the terms "lost" and "found" to describe the abduction and release of 9-year-old Emily Hand.

"She was abducted by an evil terrorist organization," the UFC superstar wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "What is with you and your government and your paid for media affiliates constantly down playing / attempting to repress horrific acts that happen to children. You are a disgrace."

McGregor was referring to Hand, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from her friend, Hila’s, house in Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel on Oct. 7, along with Hila and Hila’s mother.

Varadkar had posted on social media after Emily Hand was reunited with her father, who initially believed she had been killed in the Hamas attack.

"This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family," the prime minister wrote. "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."

X flagged the prime minister’s post for context, writing, "Emily Hand was kidnapped by Hamas Terrorists on October the 7th. The use of the term lost is inappropriate and fails to highlight that she was released as part of a hostage deal."

Hamas captured some 240 civilians from Israel and brought them back to Gaza as captives during the terror organization's bloody incursion last month.

McGregor’s criticism of Varadkar comes just days after he blasted Irish leaders over their handling of a stabbing incident in Dublin that left three children injured last week.