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On the morning of October 7, Mia Schem, 21, wrote a text message from the music festival in southern Israel: “They are shooting at us, come save us.”
Yesterday she appeared in Hamas’s first clip on the hostages.
– Please get us out of here as quickly as possible, she says in the video, according to the New York Times.
French-Israeli Mia Schem, 21, was one of the visitors to the outdoor festival in southern Israel on Saturday, October 7.
When Hamas carried out its large-scale attack early that morning, she sent a text message at 7:17 a.m. to a friend who had helped organize the festival: “They are shooting at us, come and save us.”
Since then, her family, who live a little outside Tel Aviv, have been looking for her.
“Please get us out”
During yesterday evening, they received an answer to her whereabouts – and confirmation that she is one of the 199 people kidnapped by Hamas, labeled as a terrorist.
Then Hamas released a 60-second video with Mia Schem.
It is the first video clip of one of the kidnapped that the terrorist-branded organization shows.
In the film, Mia Schem is seen getting a bandage around an injured arm.
She says she is in Gaza where she has received treatment for her injuries.
– Please get us out of here as quickly as possible, she says, according to the New York Times.
Mia Schem.”A massacre”
The newspaper has made the analysis via metadata that at least parts of the film were recorded at least six days ago.
They have also spoken with Mia Schem’s mother, Keren Schem.
She says that she spoke to her daughter the day before the attack, on October 6. Then Mia Schem told me that she was going to a party in the south of the country, she wasn’t quite sure of the exact location.
When Keren Schem saw the terrible news the next morning, she tried to call her daughter several times.
– I couldn’t stop calling. I keep telling myself, “it’s okay, it was a party with thousands of people. What is the risk of my daughter being injured?”. I tried to be rational, but I had no idea the extent of the attack. I could never have guessed that it was a massacre, says the mother to the NYT.
Hamas supporters threatened
Later, she found out about the text message that the daughter sent to the friend.
Another person said he had seen the 21-year-old walking towards a nearby kibbutz.
Another had seen Mia Schem in a car that was fired upon by Hamas men.
When Keren Schem joined two different WhatsApp groups for relatives of those missing from the festival, she quickly discovered that Hamas supporters were in the groups – and threatened to harm her daughter, the newspaper said.
On Tuesday, the mother held a press conference, according to the news agency AP.
There she said:
– I didn’t know if she was dead or alive until yesterday. All I knew was that she could be kidnapped. I pray to the whole world that my child may return home. She just went to a party, to a festival, to have some fun. Now she is in Gaza.
“Psychological Warfare”
The Israeli military (IDF) has confirmed that Mia Schem has been kidnapped by Hamas. On social media app X they have also commented on Hamas videos.
“In the video published by Hamas, they try to portray themselves as humane. But they are a horrific terrorist organization responsible for murdering and abducting babies, children, men, women and the elderly. We are taking all intelligence and operational measures to ensure that all of the hostages – Mia included – return”.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also said Tuesday that Hamas is using “psychological warfare” by showing the video.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also commented on the situation, as Mia Schem has both Israeli and French citizenship, AP writes.
– Taking hostages, both civilians and military, from all nationalities, and using them for blackmail is completely disgusting and unacceptable, he says according to the news agency.