Mia Schem

On 7 October 2023, Mia Schem , a French-Israeli woman, was abducted by Hamas during the Re'im music festival massacre, part of the October 7 attacks. Her maternal grandfather, Zeev Scharf, is an 83-year-old Chilean who emigrated to Israel in 1954. Mia has two brothers, Ilay and Eli, and a 10-year-old sister. Her mother, Keren Scharf Schem, has been actively involved in advocacy efforts for Mia and other hostages.

Abduction On 7 October 2023, Hamas militants attacked the Nova music festival near Re'im, Israel as part of the Hamas attack on Israel. During the ensuing Re'im music festival massacre, 364 civilians were killed and forty were taken hostage into the Gaza Strip. Schem attended the festival with her friend, 28-year-old French-Israeli Elia Toledano. During the attack at 7:17 am, Schem messaged a friend saying, "They are shooting at us please come save us."

Schem recounted that she was abducted by militants after she left her friend's burning vehicle during the attack. Schem was shot in the arm at point blank by a Hamas terrorist, and she and Toledano were both abducted and taken hostage into Gaza. Toledano's body was later discovered by the Israel Defense Forces during an operation in December. A militant reportedly began to touch her upper body inappropriately and only stopped after she screamed and the militant noticed that she had been wounded. She later stated in an interview that she was forced by Hamas to say this into the camera.

Schem was reportedly initially held by a Gazan family with young kids who would open the door to the room where she was being held just to stare at her.

After three days of captivity, Schem was dressed in a hijab and forced to undergo surgery for her gunshot wound. For days afterward, she reportedly received no painkillers and had to replace her own bandages. The day after the surgery, she was forced to film a video which was released by Hamas. The French government condemned the video and led Schem's mother Keren to hold a press conference in Tel Aviv calling for her immediate release.

Release and aftermath Schem was one of eight hostages freed after 54 days in captivity on 30 November as part of 105 hostages released during a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. She and Amit Soussana were handed over to the International Red Cross, and were accompanied by IDF and security service agents into Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron described her release as a "great joy". The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum praised her "fighting spirit".

In May 2025 Schem publicly came out as the person who filed a complaint in March against a well-known fitness instructor whom she alleged had drugged and raped her in her apartment. In an interview, she described how she feared of being sexually assaulted while being held hostage, so it was even more traumatic for her to have been sexually assaulted in her own home, which should have been her "safest place".