The war between Hamas and IsraelDossierThe 21-year-old woman had become one of the prisoners’ symbols after her appearance in the first video released by the Islamist group on October 16, a rare sign of a hostage’s life communicated publicly by prison guards.
Nearly two months after she was abducted by Hamas on October 7 during the Tribe of Nova music festival decimated by the attackers, Mia Shem is free. The 21-year-old French-Israeli woman was released this Thursday, November 30, by the Islamist group along with a 40-year-old hostage, Amit Sossna. The two women were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Gaza Strip as part of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement between the Jewish state and Hamas, which came into force on Friday, November 24. You are now in Israel. Images published on social networks show the young girl being handed over to the humanitarian organization. We see the former tattoo parlor employee, photographed in the white truck, among a crowd of onlookers, phones drawn to film her departure from the Palestinian enclave.
Evidence of life
After October 7, Mia Shem’s face quickly became a symbol of Israel’s capture of more than 200 hostages, becoming a bargaining chip in negotiations with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The result of his mother Keren Shem’s activism among the prisoners’ families, and in particular the publication by Hamas on October 16 of a video broadcast by the Islamist group, which served as the first evidence of a hostage’s life. While she was injured in the arm, she uttered a few sentences in Hebrew in front of the camera with an angry face, which one could assume had been dictated by her prison guards. “My name is Mia Shem, I am 21 years old and I come from Shoham. I am currently in Gaza. […] They take care of me, give me medicine, everything is fine. I ask you to take me home as soon as possible to return me to my family. Please get us out of here as quickly as possible,” she begged. The Israeli army condemned an act of “psychological terrorism by Hamas against Israeli citizens.”
“It’s very strange: they could have killed her, they came to kill her and they took her and kept her. […] I just want to hug her and not leave her,” replied David Shem, Mia’s father, on Israeli television. On the social networkOn Twitter, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “great joy” and “solidarity with all those who remain hostages of Hamas.” “France is working with its partners to achieve their release as quickly as possible,” he said. With the release of Mia Shem and those of Erez (12 years old) and Sahar Kalderon (16 years old) as well as Eitan Yahalomi (12 years old) during the course of Monday, the number of missing French people and possibly hostages increased since the attack on October 7th there are now four. Among them is Elya Toledano, a 28-year-old friend of Mia Shem, who was also kidnapped during the Tribe of Nova festival.
Uncertain sustainability
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was extended at the last minute this Thursday morning. The agreement between the two parties calls for the Islamist group to release eight more hostages today, including two of Russian nationality, as well as a group of Palestinian prisoners. Unusually since the pause in fighting came into effect, the release of hostages could be staggered throughout the evening – the fact that the prisoners would be spread out across multiple locations in the Gaza Strip would create additional operational difficulties, according to an Israeli source cited by CNN . About 80 people were released by Hamas within a week. More than 150 are believed to remain in the hands of various Palestinian organizations in the enclave.
However, the sustainability of the ceasefire appears more than uncertain, especially since Hamas has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed three people in Jerusalem. On Wednesday night, both warring parties agreed to resume fighting, with Hamas ensuring “to maintain a high level of military preparedness” while Israel warned that its troops were “fully deployed and ready to begin operations.” to resume”. Anticipating the risk of the deal expiring, American diplomatic chief Antony Blinken called on Thursday for the Israeli army to “take all possible measures to prevent civilians from being affected.” More than 15,000 Gazans have been killed in the Hamas-controlled enclave since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Updated at 6:51 p.m. with further information.