The young French-Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas and released on November 30 as part of a temporary ceasefire gave a new interview to Israeli television.
It's been almost a month since she found her family. Mia Schem, former French-Israeli Hamas hostage, spoke again on Israeli television about her imprisonment in Gaza. In an interview with Channel 12, the 21-year-old tells of her abduction by Hamas men on October 7th.
“I had a feeling of desperation, like I knew something was going to happen, I couldn't have fun (during the music festival),” she says.
Together with Elya Toledano, another hostage who was found dead two weeks ago, she tries to escape from Hamas forces, who manage to disable her vehicle.
“A member shot me in the arm from very, very close range, I screamed 'I have no arms left', I was sure I had no arms left,” she continues, “I thought I was almost died.”
“Afraid they’ll touch me”
Mia Schem, who underwent forced surgery during her captivity, says that she did not see the light of day until her release: “They told me: 'Put on the hijab, hide and dress like an Arab woman, with that you won't be recognized.'”
54 days in prison, during which she said she was in a small room, constantly with a terrorist. She even says that she was afraid of being raped: “I'm afraid that something will happen, that they will touch me.”
“I choked on my sobs”
“Some days I had nothing to eat and then kids would come and make fun of me. As soon as a child came in with a bag of candy, he opened the bag and left. It was so mean, they looked at you like an animal,” she describes it again.
Mia Schem also says she thought for a moment one of her torturers was going to shoot her “in the head” after the Israeli bombings in Gaza.
“One time I was choking on my sobs, he looked at me and said in Arabic: 'That's enough, stop crying'.” […] I asked him how long it would take and that made him laugh,” continues the former hostage, who says he thought a lot about his mother.
Mia Shem was released on November 30 during a ceasefire between the Hebrew state and Hamas that took place between November 24 and December 1. Three French people are still missing or held hostage by Hamas since the October 7 terrorist attacks. According to Israeli authorities, around 129 people remain detained in the Gaza Strip.
Hugues Garnier journalist BFMTV