On the three-year anniversary of October 7, former Hamas hostage Mia Schem, 24, has revealed the lasting physical and psychological scars of captivity.
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Schem → reveal → captivity
She tells the Daily Mail about how she survived being shot at point-blank range until her arm nearly came off, almost bled to death and was kept in a cage by her captors – as she hits out at the 'pro-Palestine sheep' and reveals why a Gaza song by Drake left her shocked.
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song → tell → her
Today, she is sitting in the home she renovated herself in central Israel – an extraordinary achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that she did much of the work with effectively only one fully functioning arm.
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she → sit → arm
The other is permanently damaged and shorter as a result of the gunshot that almost tore it from her body as she was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
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she → tear → October
Gesturing towards it as we spoke, Ms Schem said: 'Listen, the fact that I am sitting here in front of you is a miracle.
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I → gesture → you
Even talking about it now, I find myself getting stuck on the words.
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myself → talk → words
It is beyond anything I can explain.
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I → explain → anything
This arm is shorter than the other because they shot me at point-blank range.
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they → shoot → range
My arm was almost completely disconnected.
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arm → disconnect → ?
Only a small part of it was still attached to my body.
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part → attach → body
I picked up my own arm from the floor and carried it with me.
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I → pick → me
I screamed.
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I → scream → ?
I still cannot get my head around it.
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I → get → it
I lost an enormous amount of blood — something like five litres.
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I → lose → litres
Former Hamas hostage Mia Schem (right), sits down for an interview with the Daily Mail's Middle East Correspondent Natalie Lisbona (left)
The French-Israeli was held captive for 55 days before being released in November 2023
She was freed on November 30, 2023, and handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza
'
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She → sit → Gaza
It’s a miracle that I’m alive.
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I → ’ → ?
And they gave me nothing.
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they → give → nothing
She was referring to the lack of anaesthetic she says she was given while being operated on in Gaza by a ‘surgeon’.
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she → refer → surgeon
Just five minutes before she was shot, Ms Schem had been dancing with her best friend Elia Toledano at the Nova festival.
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Schem → shoot → festival
His body was later recovered from Gaza.
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body → recover → Gaza
Then, she says, her world changed in an instant.
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world → say → instant
'Everything happened so fast.
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Everything → happen → ?
Five minutes earlier I was dancing with my best friend.
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I → dance → friend
It was as though I closed my eyes and opened them again, and I was in Gaza.
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I → close → Gaza
'It happened so quickly that I couldn’t take it in.
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I → happen → it
There were Hamas terrorists everywhere, so I didn’t see the face of the person who shot me.'
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who → be → me
Ms Schem was the first hostage forced to feature in a Hamas propaganda video released on October 16, 2023, footage that was widely condemned as psychological warfare.
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that → force → warfare
The French-Israeli was held captive for 55 days before being released in November 2023.
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Israeli → hold → November
But three years later, she says she is only now beginning to process what happened to her.
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what → say → her
She said: 'I’m only starting to feel it now.
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I → say → it
Sometimes I can talk about what happened, and then suddenly I have to stop.
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I → talk → ?
But I think that is good for me.
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that → think → me
I want to understand what happened to me and how I can go on from it.'
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I → want → it
One part of October 7 remains particularly difficult for her to confront: the loss of Elia.
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her → remain → Elia
'I just can’t talk about Elia.
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I → talk → Elia
People say that God takes only the good people.
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God → say → people
Nearly three years on, Ms Schem says part of her still feels trapped in what happened.
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what → say → her
‘It is as if we were still in Gaza, in a way.’
And the moment she was dragged across the border is something she still finds difficult to speak about.
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she → drag → border
They dragged me by my hair, pushed me into the car and forced my head down.
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They → drag → head
That is all I can say.
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I → say → ?
…and 114 more, not listed.
The Aporia
