LAST UPDATE | 17 Oct 2023
THE MOTHER OF a French-Israeli woman who was taken hostage by Hamas, and was shown in a video clip released by the militant group, has made a desperate plea for her daughter’s immediate release.
Yesterday, Hamas’s military wing released a video showing a dazed Mia Schem (21) with her arm covered in bandages.
It was the first sign of life from any of the hostages since Gaza-based gunmen smashed through border fortifications on October 7 and killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
“I didn’t know if she’s dead or alive until yesterday,” her mother, Keren Schem, said at a news conference.
“All I knew is that she might be kidnapped. I’m begging the world to bring my baby back home. She only went to a party, to a festival party to have some fun. Now she’s in Gaza.”
Mia Schem was seized at a desert rave just over the border from Gaza that became the site of what is believed to be the worst civilian massacre in Israeli history.
At least 260 people were gunned down as heavily armed militants in trucks and on motorcycles barrelled through the vast field on Kibbutz Re’im where thousands had gathered for a carefree night of electronic music.
The plight of the hostages has dominated Israel’s media since the attack. The seizure of so many civilian hostages is unprecedented in Israel’s history, and interviews with relatives are broadcast throughout the day.
The Israeli military said Miss Schem’s family was told of her abduction last week, and officials dismissed the video as propaganda designed to make Hamas look humane. Israeli officials have vowed to maintain a siege on Gaza until the hostages are released.
Mia Schem has dual nationality with France and on Tuesday French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the hostage-taking.
Civilians and soldiers, young and old, Israelis and non-Israelis were among at least 199 people taken into captivity from Re’im and other areas in southern Israel.
“This is a crime against humanity and we should all gather and stop this terror and bring everybody back home,” Keren Schem said.
The plight of the hostages has dominated Israel’s media since the attack. The seizure of so many civilian hostages is unprecedented in Israel’s history, and interviews with relatives are broadcast throughout the day.
The Israeli military said Miss Schem’s family was told of her abduction last week, and officials dismissed the video as propaganda designed to make Hamas look humane. Israeli officials have vowed to maintain a siege on Gaza until the hostages are released.
Mia Schem has dual nationality with France and on Tuesday French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the hostage-taking and demanded Mia Schem’s immediate release.
“It is an ignominy to take innocent people hostage and put them on show in this odious way,” the Elysee presidential palace quoted Macron as saying.
It said Macron was aware of the video of Franco-Israeli Mia Shem and called for her “immediate and unconditional release”.
France was “working with its partners to free French hostages held by Hamas”, it added.
French Foreign Minster Catherine Colonna held talks on Sunday with the families of people who had been killed or abducted, including Shem’s.
On Monday evening, Hamas aired a video on its official Telegram channel of “one of the prisoners in Gaza”, showing a young woman speaking Hebrew.
In the video, the first released by Hamas of a hostage purportedly speaking from captivity, the woman says she is being held in Gaza, is being well treated and appeals for her release.
The caption to the video said she had been abducted on 7 October, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, triggering a war that has killed thousands of people in both Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip, which Israel is bombing in retalitation.
The Israeli army has confirmed at least 199 hostages were taken to Gaza. Hamas had claimed around 250 captives are being held.
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