The young woman’s family confirmed that it was indeed Mia Schem, who was kidnapped in the early hours of October 7th. She has an injured arm and says she was treated well by her captors.
A rare sign of life. On Monday, Hamas, which carried out the terrorist attacks on Israeli soil on October 7, released a video of one of the hostages captured that day. In it, the woman – who is being treated on the arm by an unknown medical worker – identifies herself as 21-year-old Mia Schem. She asks to be returned to her family as quickly as possible.
“Please get me out of here as quickly as possible,” she said to the camera, also making sure she was treated well by her captors.
A representative of the family, part of a group of French-Israeli families who have called on President Emmanuel Macron to help free their loved ones, confirmed their identities to Portal.
Speaking to France 24, her mother, Keren Schem, explains that the young woman was at the music festival that was attacked in the early hours of the Hamas attack when she was kidnapped. She would have messaged a friend before revealing any more news.
“They are shooting at us. Please come and save us!,” she wrote.
For our colleagues at RMC, Keren Schem, Mia’s mother, speaks of “great relief” when she saw this video, but remains worried about the future.
“I beg the world to bring my baby home. We cannot rest until all citizens return home. They shouldn’t be in Gaza,” she added.
199 hostages
The Israeli army said in a statement it was in constant contact with the Shem family and called Hamas a “lethal terrorist organization.” It added that it would use “all information and all operational measures” to achieve the return of the hostages.
At least 199 Israelis and foreign nationals have been captured and held hostage by Hamas militants since the Islamist group’s attack that left 1,300 dead, the deadliest toll in a day since Israel was founded 75 years ago.
In a video message broadcast on Monday, the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades introduced the group of “prisoners of different nationalities” as “guests.” “We are trying to protect them,” Abou Obeida added, assuring that non-Israelis would be released if “circumstances on the ground allow it.”