‘PLEASE’

In First, Hamas Releases Video of 21-Year-Old Israeli Hostage

“They are taking care of me,” said the 21-year-old hostage in the video. “... I only ask that you get me out of here as soon as possible.”

More than a week after capturing upwards of 150 people in a series of targeted raids on Israel, the Hamas militant group released what it said was its first hostage video, showcasing a captive woman who asked to be brought home. In the roughly minute-long clip first posted to Telegram, the woman can be seen getting her injured arm bandaged before she addresses the camera directly. She identifies herself as Mia Shem, a 21-year-old dual citizen of Israel and France. “They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine,” she says, according to a translation by The Jerusalem Post. “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.” A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that Shem had been among the abducted on Oct. 7, and that representatives were in contact with her family. “In the video, Hamas tries to present itself as a humanitarian organization while it is a murderous terrorist organization, responsible for the murders and kidnappings of babies, women, children, and the elderly,” the spokesperson said.