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Pictures of the reunion between Mia Schem, her brother and her mother at an Israeli military base this Thursday, November 30th.
INTERNATIONAL – Mia Shem, who was held captive by Hamas for 55 days before being released under a temporary ceasefire on November 30, spoke publicly for the first time about her detention in the Gaza Strip.
She spoke during an interview with Channel 13, an Israeli television station, excerpts of which were revealed this Thursday, December 28, while waiting for the full interview to be broadcast on Friday.
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She explains that she wants to speak out to “tell the truth” about what she “experienced there.” “I experienced a Holocaust,” she says. “I was lying on the ground covered in blood and screaming that I had lost my hand […] Someone started touching my upper body, then out of nowhere someone pulled me by my hair. They put me in a car and we drove to Gaza,” she says.
The 21-year-old young woman, who has a bandage on her arm, also talks about the operation, which she underwent without painkillers: “I was like an animal in the zoo […] I almost choked on my own tears.”
Held in a Palestinian family's home
Regarding her imprisonment, she explains that she was kept in a dark room and realized that she was in the house of a Palestinian family. According to her, the entire family was “involved in Hamas, including the women and children.” She thereby accuses all Palestinians of being terrorists.
“I asked myself, 'Why am I being kept in a family home?' 'Why are there children and a woman here?'” she continues.
“It is important for me to reveal the truth about the people who live in Gaza, about who they really are,” she continues in the excerpt published by the channel.
129 hostages are still being held in Gaza
In the bloody Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, around 250 people were taken hostage and around 1,140 people were killed, according to a count by the AFP news agency based on current official figures. According to the Israeli authorities, 129 people are still being held in Gaza today.
According to the Hamas authorities, which are in power in this Palestinian territory under complete siege by Israel, at least 21,320 people, mostly women, children and teenagers, have been killed in the Gaza Strip, which has been relentlessly bombed by the Israeli army.
A ceasefire valid from November 24 to December 1 allowed the release of 105 hostages in Gaza, including 80 in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
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