Hamas published a video this Monday in which one of the 200 people captured as hostages appears for the first time after the attack on Israel on October 7. This is Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli girl who was at the Supernova festival, near the Gaza border, where more than 260 people were murdered.
In the images, the girl appears captive while a medical assistant treats her injured arm, accompanied by some statements. "They have been taking care of me, providing me with medication. I only ask that you take me back home as soon as possible to my family, my parents, my brothers. Please get me out of here as quickly as possible," said the hostage, who was kidnapped "early Saturday morning." It was at that time that she was "seriously injured in her hand" and she was treated for three hours for the injury.
Schem is from the Israeli town of Shoham. The family was informed last week of the kidnapping of the young woman, the Israeli army reported yesterday in a statement. At the same time, she criticized the Hamas video. "They present themselves as a human organization when it is a terrorist organization that is responsible for the murder and kidnapping of babies, women, children and the elderly." She also assured that they are using "all operational and intelligence measures" for the return of the hostages, which Hamas numbers up to 250.
Schem's family is part of a group of French families who last week asked President Emmanuel Macron for help in freeing their missing relatives. Mia also has Chilean roots and, for that reason, the Jewish Community of Chile denounced the kidnapping.
On the Chilean T13 channel, the hostage's grandfather explained days after the Hamas attack what he had regarding his granddaughter. "My understanding is that she started running, but since we haven't heard from her, it's most likely that she was grabbed, kidnapped and taken to Gaza."
On Monday night, the Palestinian militias released another video from their spokesman, Abu Obeida, in which they announced that they planned to release foreign hostages held by the group in Gaza. He stated that these hostages are considered his "guests" and that they will be released when "conditions on the ground" are met.
To free all the hostages, Hamas asks Israel for 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. It was requested by the director of the Islamist group's office of relations with Palestinians abroad, Khaled Meshaal, according to local media.
Since the Hamas attack on October 7, at least 2,800 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have died. A figure that will rise when the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, gives the order for the army to begin the ground offensive in Gaza. One of the reasons for the delay in the attack is precisely the high number of hostages held by Hamas.
