• Source:JND
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A former Hamas hostage has criticised the United Nations and advocacy groups for failing to adequately support hostages still held in Gaza. The former hostage expressed frustration over the perceived inaction and lack of vocal advocacy for those left behind, calling on international organisations to prioritise the safe return of all captives.

Mia Shem on November 7 spoke outside the United Nations Security Council in New York, criticising the UN for its lack of efforts to support those still held hostage.

The 22-year-old, who holds both Israeli and French nationality, shared her harrowing experience of being captured by Hamas. She described the isolation, lack of medical care, and constant intimidation by armed guards during her ordeal.

“Not a single humanitarian agency saw me or treated me. Where was the Red Cross? Where was the UN demanding that they have access to us?” said Mia Shem criticising the UN for its lack of support for Israeli hostages. 

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Mia Shem’s Shocking Account Of Captivity

“For 50 days, I was kept alone, suffering from an unbearable pain in my hand, without any treatment. A Hamas terrorist sat in front of me in a dark room with a gun pointed at my head. Not a single humanitarian agency saw me or treated me even as my arm got worse,” she said

Shem, who was injured during her abduction from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im, shocked many Israelis with her account of captivity in a Palestinian home. She described being sexually harassed by a man and taunted by a child with candy. She also expressed her belief to Channel 12, saying, "There are no innocents in Gaza, not even one."

“The floor was splattered with blood and I yelled in pain, ‘I lost my arm!’” she told the network’s prime-time “Ulpan Shishi” program, according to a clip posted to X.

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“He (a Hamas terrorist) started touching the upper part of my body. Suddenly, someone grabbed my hair, pulled me in a car and drove to Gaza. I felt like an animal in a zoo.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon condemned the UN for its ‘complete moral failure’, calling it ‘unforgivable’. He criticised the organisation for failing to condemn Hamas or demand the release of hostages, including Mia Shem, who was kept in a cage with other women during her captivity.