Celebrations of the Jewish holiday Sukkot lit up Israel’s momentous occasion on October 7, 2023. People from all over the world assembled along the Israel-Gaza border for a night of trance music and dancing.
But the serenading twilight hours soon turned into a terrifying nightmare as the attendees spotted rockets in the air approaching the desert outside of Kibbutz Re’im. A few moments later, the smog from the bombs dispersed to reveal a horror-movie-type scene– around 50 armed men opened fire at the Supernova music festival, which ironically symbolized peace and harmony.
The Israeli rescue task force Zaka reported around 260 people died during the massacre.
However, this was just the start of the atrocities. The footage from the scenes, shared on social media, put the entire world into a thunderbolt. The harrowing scenes of people getting abducted and ruthlessly snatched away were one of the most inhumane acts in recent years.
Among the hostages were several women, some Israeli, while others were international tourists. Noa Argamani, 25, was forcefully taken away on a bike. Meanwhile, a 30-year-old German woman, Shani Louk, was seen lifeless in one of the Hamas’s vehicles.
After over a week of taking these hostages, Hamas released the first video on October 16, 2023. The video shows a 21-year-old French-Israeli woman, Mia Shem, being treated for her elbow injury, after which she addresses that she is well-taken care of and concludes that she wants someone to bring her back home as soon as possible. Mia is one of the 200 hostages taken by Hamas during the Supernova festival.
Who Is Mia Shem?
Mia Shem is half French, half Israeli, born in 2002. The 21-year-old Mia was eager to explore the new type of music festival for the first time in her adulthood.
October 6, 2023: Mia was scheduled to the Supernova music festival with her friends. She messaged her mother, Keren Shem, about her next-day plans. Mrs. Shem told the media–
“She called me to say she was going to a party down south.”
“I asked her where, and she said she wasn’t sure.”
October 7, 2023: The rest of the Shem family had a get-together at their home in a small town outside Tel Aviv to celebrate Sukkot. And before they could enjoy the festivities, the Shems were shaken by the worst news imaginable.
At 7:17 a.m., Mia Shem sent a text message to her friend, who is also one of the organizers of the party. It said– “They are shooting at us, come save us.”
This was the last of anyone heard from Mia.
The news of Hamas attacks spread like wildfire, igniting every family’s worries about their loved ones attending the festival. The Shem family couldn’t believe that something like this could happen to their daughter and chose to be optimistic. Keren said–
“I couldn’t stop calling.”
“I kept telling myself, it’s OK, it was a party with thousands of people. What are the chances my daughter was hurt? I was trying to be rational, but I had no idea of the scale of the attack. I couldn’t have guessed it was a massacre.”
Hamas First Hostage Video Explained
October 16, 2023: Hamas released the first hostage video.
In the video, we can see a young woman in agonizing pain getting treated for her elbow injury. A simple injury would be an understatement since her arm was layered with rolls of bandages.
In the next frame, Mia is seen directly addressing the camera on her. She says that she is recovering with proper medical attention and timely medications. She later urges people to help her out and take her back home.
Mia’s 23-year-old brother Eli Shem told ABC News–
“It was hard for me to see my sister there. And I get the message clearly. I know what she wants me to do.”
“‘I need your help. And I need you to get me back home.'”
“That’s all I need from her.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli government believes that this is Hamas’s low attempt to prove their organization is not exploiting human rights. They just have taken hostages so that Israel would agree to their demands. IDF responded to the video, stating–
“Last week, Mia was abducted by Hamas. IDF officials have since informed Mia’s family and are in continuous contact with them,” they wrote on social media.”
“In the video published by Hamas, they try to portray themselves as humane. However, they are a horrific terrorist organization responsible for the murder and abduction of babies, children, men, women and the elderly.”
Some netizens believe that Shem has been forced to utter these words that show the Hamas group in a sympathetically positive light.
199 people remain under Hamas’s captivity, while the war has claimed over 1400 Israeli lives.
What are your thoughts on the video? Do you believe that Hamas is trying to portray themselves in a positive light, or have they genuinely not hurt any of the hostages yet?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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