The family of 21-year-old Mia Schem, who was taken hostage by Hamas from the music festival, sought the world leader’s help in bringing their daughter back home. Hamas’s military wing had released a video showing French-Israeli women Mia Schem appealing for her release on Tuesday.
After the video surfaced, Mia’s mother while talking to the reporters said that “until yesterday I didn’t know whether she was alive or dead.” Mia’s mother Keren Schem was talking to reporters in Tel Aviv.
In the video, Mia was seen with her arm wrapped with bandages and asking to be returned to her family quickly.
Le #Hamas commence son petit jeu sordide et publie sur sa chaine Telegram, la vidéo d'une otage.
— Crétin des Alpes (@Krokenbouche) October 16, 2023
Ici, Mia Schem, kidnappée samedi au Festival Supernova et amenée à #Gaza.
Elle est visiblement blessé au bras et explique, comme prévu, être bien traité, nourri, logée, blanchi.💀 pic.twitter.com/U1ieOXDzdU
The family confirmed that it was their daughter in the video. Her mother said that she was taken from the Reim kibbutz, where she was attending the Supernova festival.
The video also shows Mia being treated by an unidentified medical worker. "I saw that she was in a stable condition but I am very worried about her," said Keren.
"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 and now she's in Gaza," Keren was quoted by Reuters.
"Now she is in Gaza, and she is not the only one...There are many children who went to this party, there are many babies, and children, and old people, and Holocaust survivors that were kidnapped," she added.
According to Israel, Hamas has taken 199 hostages to Gaza. While reacting to the video an Israeli spokesman said that it was a "phychological warfare". “With the goals of this war to dismantle Hamas, the hostages remain a key priority in balancing our efforts,” he added.
Meanwhile, French foreign ministry condemned the release of the video. “Several are very likely hostages of Hamas. This is the case of a national, whose vile staging by Hamas in a video France condemns," the foreign ministry said in a statement. France said that 21 French citizens were killed and another 11 remained missing since the Hamas attack on October 7.
The Israeli military said it was in constant touch with Schem's family and was using "all intelligence and operational measures" for the return of the captives. According to the military, the hostages were held at unknown locations in Gaza making the operation complicated to get them back.
