Former Hamas hostage Mia Schem engaged to childhood friend

Mia Schem, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack last year and released after 50 days in captivity, became engaged on Thursday, announcing the news in an Instagram post.

The 22-year-old will marry 24-year-old Yinon Hasson. According to the news daily Israel Hayom, Hasson is Schem’s childhood friend. The two became a couple when she returned from captivity. He proposed on Thursday in Caesarea.

The news was celebrated in comments in Schem’s post. A pizza parlor offered free pizzas at her bachelorette party and singer Mendel Wonder said she would sing at her wedding.

Schem was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

She was released 50 days later, as part of a week-long truce in November last year in which 105 women, children, and some non-Israeli hostages were set free.

Since her release, Schem has spoken openly about her ordeal in Hamas captivity, which included being abducted with an injured arm that was mended poorly and receiving no painkillers, as well as being sexually harassed by her captors.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DC68iRFsv_f/

Speaking at the Israeli consulate in New York last month, Schem also revealed that she had been held in a cage for five days with five other young women whom she did not name, and who are still in Hamas captivity.

During a trip to the US after her release where she spoke about her experience, Schem signed a deal with Israeli modeling agent Roberto Ben Shushan and modeled a line of wedding dresses for her first campaign, according to Hebrew media.