A recently liberated Israeli hostage, Mia Schem, recounted her distressing 54-day captivity under Hamas fighters in Gaza. Schem expressed that her experience was akin to enduring a holocaust.
A recently freed Israeli hostage, Mia Schem, shared the traumatic details of her 54-day captivity by Hamas fighters in Gaza. In an interview with Channel 13, Schem expressed the importance of conveying the truth about the people in Gaza based on her personal experiences. She described her ordeal as akin to a holocaust, emphasizing her belief that everyone in Gaza is a terrorist. The 21-year-old survivor sought to shed light on the nature of her captors and her perspective on the situation in Gaza.
Mia Schem went from:
“The people were very good. Very kind”
To:
“I went through a holocaust. Everyone in Gaza is a terrorist”
After being handed over to the Red Cross/Israel.
Why did her story completely change? pic.twitter.com/v9BPLTHERb
“It was important to me to relay the truth about the nature of the people who live in Gaza, who they are truly are and what I experienced there. I went through a holocaust. Everyone over there is a terrorist," she said.
Mia Schem revealed that she was abducted from a music festival in southern Israel on October 7 and subsequently held captive by a civilian family in Gaza with ties to the Palestinian terrorist group.
Also read: Israel-Hamas war: IDF uncovers weapon cache in child's bedroom in Gaza (WATCH)
“Suddenly I realised that I'm with a family,” she said. “Suddenly I'm asking myself questions: Why am I in some family's home? Why are there kids here? Why is there a wife?”
“I felt like an animal in a zoo… I was chocking on my own tears.”
Mia Schem continues to relay the horrors she experienced as a hostage of Hamas in Gaza.
She said when she was freed, the other hostages she was forced to leave behind said “Mia, please, don’t let them forget… pic.twitter.com/Ma85DC2xwq
During an independent interview with Channel 12 News, Mia Schem expressed that she experienced a sensation akin to "being treated like an animal in the safari."
During her captivity, Mia Schem reportedly received treatment for a gunshot wound in her arm from a veterinarian, as stated by the New York Post.
In a chilling video released by Hamas at the time, she was heard pleading, “They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine. I only ask that they bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings. Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”
Freed in a prisoner-hostage exchange during a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Mia Schem made a bold statement on Instagram after her release. She showcased a new tattoo with a defiant message, "We will dance again," along with the date of the attack, marking her resilience and determination.
“We will never forget,” she wrote as the caption. “The pain and the fear, the difficult sights, the friends who won't come back, and those we must bring back. But we will win, we will dance!” she added.
Reportedly, around 240 hostages were taken during the Hamas raid on Israel on October 7, resulting in approximately 1200 fatalities.