An Israeli woman abducted by Hamas during a brutal assault on a music festival near the Gaza Strip pleaded for help in a video released by the terrorists on Monday.
In the 60-second clip posted to Telegram, Mia Schem is shown receiving medical care for an arm wound before she tells the camera she is in Gaza and pleads for her release.
Schem, 21, went missing from the Tribe of Nova music festival where Hamas terrorists slaughtered 260 people.
She said in the video that she had a three-hour surgery in Gaza, according to a translation from Hebrew by the Jerusalem Post.
“They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine. I only ask that they bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings,” she said in the video. “Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”
The clip is the first footage of a hostage posted by Hamas.
Schem said her arm was badly wounded and she underwent a three-hour surgery at a Gaza hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces condemned the video and confirmed that Schem was kidnapped by Hamas last week. The military organization said its officials are in continuous communication with her family.
“In the video published by Hamas, they try to portray themselves as humane,” the IDF wrote in a statement to X. “However, they are a horrorific [sic] terrorist organization responsible for the murder and abduction of babies, children, men, women and the elderly.”
Schem’s aunt told Israeli media that the family had seen the hostage video and confirmed it was her, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“Today [the family] called me screaming and told me that they see Mia in a video on Telegram. I saw her, and I thought I was dreaming. I finally saw the girl after all this time,” her aunt Galit told Israeli reporters. “She looks hurt and scared – but at least she’s alive.”
Some of the footage of Schem was filmed at least six days ago, according to an analysis of its metadata by the New York Times.
Schem pleaded for her release so that she can be reunited with her family in Israel. Schem is one of 199 people kidnapped by Hamas, according to Israeli authorities.
The woman’s mother, Keren Schem, last spoke to her daughter the day before Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel.
“She called me to say she was going to a party down south,” Keren Schem said, according to the Times. “I asked her where, and she said she wasn’t sure.”
When she learned of the violent raid the next morning, she called her daughter over and over again but never got an answer.
She didn’t know what happened to her until the IDF informed the family that she had been abducted and brought into Gaza.
The family is hoping other countries will help to bring Schem home.
“This is a very significant step, and we want our girl at home,” her aunt said, referring to the video. “We demand that the countries of the free world make sure that she return to us. She was with a very good friend of hers – Elya Toledano, and we heard nothing more about him. We want to know he’s okay.”
The IDF said it was “deploying all intelligence and operational measures for the return of all hostages — including Mia.”
Earlier Monday, Israeli authorities announced that 199 people were kidnapped and are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza — adding another 50 people to the previously known numbers. Americans are believed to be among the abducted as at least 13 US citizens are missing.
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 distressingHamas 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 […]
