Hostage featured in Hamas video is French-Israeli
The young girl seen in a video released by Hamas this Monday, and presented as “a prisoner” detained in the Gaza Strip by the Islamist movement, her name is Mia Schem. She is a 21-year-old Franco-Israeli woman who was at the music festival attacked in the early hours of the Hamas raid on Israeli soil on October 7.
“My name is Mia Schem, I am 21 years old and I come from Shoham”in central Israel, the girl says in Hebrew in the video which shows her injured and treated on her right arm.
“Right now I’m in Gaza. I returned early Saturday morning from a party in the Sderot region. I was seriously injured in my hand. They brought me to Gaza and took me to the hospital here for three hours. They took care of me, gave me medicine. I simply ask you to bring me back as quickly as possible to my family, my parents, my brothers and sisters. Please get me out of here as quickly as possible.”she also said.
IDF confirmed on X (ex-Twitter) the girl’s captivity. “In the video released by Hamas, they try to present themselves as human beings. Yet it is a horrific terrorist organization, responsible for the murder and kidnapping of babies, children, men, women and the elderly.”says the Israeli army, which specifies that it is in contact with the hostage’s family.
His mother, Keren Schem, spoke during the day with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna – who is traveling to Tel Aviv -, and appealed to Emmanuel Macron.
“I wish he would speak to us like President Biden did by Zoom with the families of Americans. I really trust him. My baby is also French”, she said to our colleagues from France 24.
“The French have done so much for human rights, I really expect them to do everything they can to save my baby. I know that the Americans are working day and night to get their hostages out of Gaza, and I think the French should do the same. France has very good relations in the Middle East,” she adds.