RELEASED: Mia Schem, 21, underwent arm surgery in Gaza
Seen in Hamas propaganda video after abduction from Supernova festival on October 7
Mia Schem was released on November 30 as part of an extension of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel. This is the story of her capture:
Mia Schem, 21, was taken hostage from the Supernova desert rave on October 7, when Hamas terrorists waged an assault, killing 364 partygoers and abducting another 36 people to Gaza.
Keren Schem, Mia’s mother, said that she had attempted to reach Mia at 7 a.m. as news of the Hamas attack began spreading, but her calls went unanswered.
The New York Times reported that she eventually heard from one of the organizers of the party, a friend of her daughter’s, that Mia had sent a text message at 7:17 a.m.: “They are shooting at us, come save us.”
Mia, a dual French citizen, had spoken with her mother the night before when she called Keren Schem to say she was going to a party down south. She told Keren she wasn’t sure where it was located.
The next morning, Keren heard about the attacks down south and tried to call her daughter, but the calls went unanswered.
What happened to Mia that morning still isn’t clear, although Keren did receive several reports of people who spotted her. One person thought they saw her walking toward a kibbutz, another said she was seen in a car being sprayed by a Hamas gunman with bullets.
Nine days later, Hamas released a video in which Mia reported that she is being looked after and that her arm was operated on for three hours at a hospital. The video ended with her plea to be returned to Israel.
