On Monday, the first hostage video was released by Hamas, revealing Mia Schem as one of the hostages. The 21-year-old French-Israeli woman appeared in the video with a long, fresh scar on her arm that was being bandaged by someone outside the camera frame. Mia spoke into the camera appearing pale, saying that she is injured and needs to be reunited with her family.
Keren Scharf Schem, Mia’s mother spoke to reporters on Tuesday, urging the government and world leaders to return her daughter safely. She said that Mia was abducted from Nova festival. Keren Schem added that until Monday, she had no idea whether her daughter was alive or dead.
“I saw she is alive, I saw that she was… I heard before rumors that she was shot in the shoulder or in the leg so I can see she was shot in her shoulder, I see she had an operation, she looks very terrified, she looks like she is in big pain, and I can see that she says what they tell her to say.”
Keren Scharf Schem
Mia’s mother asserted that her daughter is a strong girl who she believes will survive the terror. On the other hand, the IDF, (Israeli Defense Forces) revealed that it had released a statement to Schem’s family about the kidnapping last week. IDF spokesperson, Maj. Libby Weiss said that Hamas was waging a psychological war by releasing the video. He also confirmed that it is still unclear to the IDF, the exact number of hostages in Gaza.
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However, Hamas spokesperson, Abu Obaida said in a video statement on Monday that the number of hostages is at least 200-250. Obaida revealed that Al-Qassam, Hamas’ military wing is holding at least 200 hostages. The rest, he added, are being held by “other militant formations.” He asserted that determining their exact number has been undermined by Israeli bombardment on Gaza.
According to WAFA, a Palestinian news agency, more than 2,800 people have lost their lives in Gaza. On Monday, IDF said that the number of hostages stood at 199. It assured the media that they were using “all intelligence and operational means to return the abductees.”
“Hamas is trying to present itself as a humanitarian organization while acting as a hideous terrorist organization responsible for killing and kidnapping infants, women, children and the elderly.”
Israeli Defense Forces
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Moreover, Abu Obaida confirmed that 22 hostages had been killed in Israeli air strikes, but the claims are yet to be verified. However, Obaida added that Al-Qassam is planning on releasing hostages with foreign citizenship. Their plan is to do this when “the opportunity arises on the ground” because they are “committed” to protecting them.
