Wounded Israeli tattoo artist held hostage by Hamas was operated on by a vet in Gaza, her family says
AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg
- Israeli hostage Mia Schem was operated on in Gaza, her aunt has claimed.
- Schem was released by Hamas on Thursday as part of a deal with Israel.
- In a video after her release, Schem said that people were "very kind" to her during captivity.
The aunt of released Israeli hostage Mia Schem said that a vet performed surgery on her while Hamas held her in Gaza.
"Finally, she is with us," Vivian Hadar, Schem's aunt, told The Jerusalem Post. "She was traumatized. She is thin and weak. A vet operated on her hand. She did physical therapy for herself."
Schem was one of an estimated 240 people taken hostage by Hamas during the unprecedented October 7 terror attacks.
The 21-year-old was attending the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border when Hamas militants stormed it, killing hundreds of attendees and taking several captive, among them Schem, who was shot in the hand.
After Schem was taken hostage, Hamas released a video showing her lying down as a person off-camera wrapped bandages around her right arm.
The Israeli-French tattoo artist Schem was freed on Thursday with another woman, followed by six others later.
More than 100 hostages have been released in recent days, most as part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.
In a video posted on social media during her release, Schem can be seen sitting in a van and talking about her time in captivity. It is unclear if she was still in Gaza and still a Hamas captive when the video was filmed.
"People very good, very kind to me," she said. "Food good, and the kindness and everything good."
???????????????? Mia Shem, who was held hostage by Hamas, said this about her experience:
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) November 30, 2023
"People were very good.
Very kind, to me.
Food good and the kindness and everything good" pic.twitter.com/GzvKPDSnw5
As the hostages have returned home, conflicting information has begun to trickle out about their experiences being held in Gaza.
Hamas has said that it treated the hostages humanely in accordance with Islamic teachings.
Many of the hostages were filmed waving and shaking hands with their Hamas captors as they were released and handed over to the Red Cross.
However, there have also been accounts from the IDF and hostages' family members claiming that hostages were beaten and threatened.
The director of METIV: The Israel Psychotrauma Center, Danny Brom, said that some of the released hostages will need medical treatment, but others will not.