'Bring my baby home': Mum's plea after daughter, 21, kidnapped by Hamas at Israeli festival

Keren Scharf Schem said her daughter Mia 'looks very terrified... like she's in big pain', ITV News Correspondent John Ray reports

The mother of a 21-year-old woman kidnapped by Hamas is "begging the world to bring my baby back home" after the terror group released a hostage video of her.

Mia Schem, an Israeli-French woman, was abducted by Hamas militants at the Supernova Festival in southern Israel on October 7 and taken into the Gaza Strip.

She had not been heard from since - until footage was released of her by Hamas on Monday.

In the footage, Mia is seen lying on a bed with a metal brace on her arm, which has a long, fresh scar. She is seen being bandaged by someone out of frame.

The next shot shows her speaking to the camera. She appears pale and tired but sits up straight with her head held high as loud rumbling is heard in the background. She says she was injured and taken to Gaza, before she pleads to be reunited with her family.

Mia's family wanted the world to see what is happening to their daughter and other hostages. ITV News has taken screenshots of the footage.

Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Mia's mother, Keren Scharf Schem, said she suspected her daughter had been kidnapped but did not know if she was alive or dead until she saw the video.

Holding a picture of her daughter, Keren said: "I am begging the world to bring my baby back home, she only went to a festival party to have some fun and now she is in Gaza and she is not the only one.”

The mother said she had heard rumours Mia was shot in the shoulder or leg, which appears to be consistent with bandaging and the metal brace seen around her arm in the footage.

“I see she had an operation, she looks very terrified, she looks like she's in big pain," Keren continued.

"I can see she is saying what they tell her to say but I can see that she is stable. I can see she needs medical care."

Condemning the Hamas attacks and abductions as a "crime against humanity", Keren urged the world to "gather and stop this terror and bring everybody back home".

"She is not the only one [to have been abducted] - there were many children who went to this party, there are many babies and children and old people and Holocaust survivors who have been kidnapped, their houses were burned," the mother added.

Keren earlier told CNN her daughter had sent a message to a friend who was also at the festival at 7.17am on October 7, saying: “They are shooting at us please come save us.”

According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), more than 260 people were found dead at the site of the festival.

Mia is among the at least 199 hostages being held by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli officials.

Hamas said it was holding 200 to 250 hostages, including foreigners. It said it will not to release any of the abductees until Israel stops bombing the territory.

Israel vowed Gaza will receive no water, fuel, electricity, food or medical supplies until the hostages are freed.

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