21-year-old Mia Shem, taken hostage by Hamas militant group. Photo / X (Formerly Twitter)
Warning: This story contains content which some readers may find distressing
Hamas has released a video of what appears to be a young woman taken hostage from a music festival where hundreds of people were killed during its October 7 attacks.
The video, which appears to show 21-year-old Mia Shem, who holds joint Israeli-French citizenship, was released on the group’s Telegram channel.
It is thought to be the first hostage video released. As with any hostage video, there was no immediate way to check the veracity of what was said in it.
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“Hi, I’m Mia Shem, 21 years old from Shoham. Currently, I’m in Gaza. I returned early Saturday morning from Sderot, I was at a party. I was seriously injured in my hand,” says the young woman.
“I underwent surgery on my hand at the hospital [in Gaza] for three hours. They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine.”
She added: “I only ask that they bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings. Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”
Earlier, the young woman’s mother, Karen Shem, told Israel’s Ynet news outlet, that Mia, the eldest of three of her children, was among 250 people believed to have been seized by Hamas.
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She had been taken after Hamas attacked the Supernova Music Festival in the Negev desert, killing hundreds of people.
“I am begging you – give me back my baby girl,” Ms Shem said. “Take me, do whatever you want. Just bring the girl home.”
On Monday, the Israel Defence Forces denounced the video.
“Last week, Mia was abducted by Hamas. IDF officials have since informed Mia’s family and are in continuous contact with them,” they wrote on social media.
“In the video published by Hamas, they try to portray themselves as humane. However, they are a horrific terrorist organisation responsible for the murder and abduction of babies, children, men, women and the elderly.”
They added: “At this time, we are deploying all intelligence and operational measures for the return of all hostages — including Mia.”
Earlier on Monday, Hamas claimed it had 250 hostages and demanded the release of 6000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for their return.
Khaled Meshaal, who now heads Hamas’s diaspora office, said that among the hostages were high-ranking Israeli officers from the Gaza division.
He said the group would spare no effort to in using the captives as leverage.
“This is not the first time that the enemy has raised the slogan of eliminating Hamas,” Mr Meshaal, 67, who has lived in Qatar since 2012, told AlAraby TV.
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“[Israel] wants to compensate for its loss militarily by killing civilians and children.”
