Freed Hamas hostage Mia Shem slams global inaction: ‘Where was the UN? Where was the Red Cross?’

Mia Shem, a former hostage of Hamas, made a statement during a press conference outside the United Nations National Security Council in New York on November 6, expressing her frustration with the lack of international support during her captivity.

Shem calls out global agencies: ‘Where was Red Cross and the UN?’

At the press conference, Shem recounted her harrowing experience, highlighting the absence of humanitarian aid during her detention, New York Post reported on November 8. “Not a single humanitarian agency saw me or treated me. Where was the Red Cross? Where was the U.N. demanding that they have access to us?” Shem was quoted as saying.

No medical help: Shem's ordeal with a gun to her head

Shem said she was wounded in her arm during her abduction at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im and was left without medical attention for days. “For 50 days, I was kept alone, suffering from an unbearable pain in my hand, without any treatment,” she said, describing her ordeal as she was held in a dark room with a gun pointed at her head by a Hamas terrorist.

Shem, a 22-year-old dual Israeli-French national, was released from Gaza in a deal with Hamas in November 2023 after being held for 50 days.

Shem describes abuse in Palestinian home during hostage crisis

Shem’s statements to Channel 12, New York post stated, also revealed disturbing details about her captivity. She was held in the home of a Palestinian family where a man sexually harassed her, and a child taunted her with candy. This left her with the stark realization: “There are no innocents in Gaza, not even one.”

Call for action and accountability

At a conference held on November 5, organized by the Tel Aviv-based human rights organization Shurat HaDin, The Jerusalem Post reported, Shem spoke out about her experience and the ongoing plight of hostages. She urged the world, especially the U.S. government, to take action for the release of hostages still being held in Gaza. “I came here to cry out to the world and to the world’s greatest power to demand that the next president do everything in their power to free all the hostages,” Shem was quoted as saying.

UN and global inaction

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador, Danny Danon, also spoke at the press conference, denouncing the U.N. for its inaction. He condemned the global body’s “complete moral failure” and criticized the lack of condemnation toward Hamas. “While Shem was locked in a cage alongside other women, none of the U.N. bodies found the decency to condemn Hamas and demand the hostages’ release,” Danon stated.