Israel
Two more hostages released as ceasefire enters seventh day
Mia Schem and Amit Soussana will return to their families in Israel tonight as 143 hostages remain to be released
November 30, 2023 17:06
By, Eliana Jordan
1 min read
Mia Schem and Amit Soussana will return to their families in Israel tonight as 143 hostages remain to be released
November 30, 2023 17:06ByEliana Jordan, Eliana Jordan
Two hostages released from Gaza today have been identified as 21-year-old Mia Schem and 40-year-old Amit Soussana, according to IDF reports.
The pair are back in Israeli territory and are being escorted to Hatzerim Airbase where they will undergo an initial medical assessment before being taken to hospitals to reunite with their families.
Schem, who holds dual French-Israeli citizenship, was kidnapped on October 7 from the Supernova music festival where 36 people were taken to Gaza as hostages and 364 were killed. Nine days later, Hamas released a video of Schem in which they reported that she had undergone an operation on her arm at a hospital in Gaza after being shot by Hamas. The video then showed Schem pleading to be returned to Israel: "I just ask to return home, get me out of here as quickly as possible," she said to the camera.
In an interview with Israel's Channel 12 TV on Thursday, Mia's father David said that when they are reunited, 'I don't want to ask her questions, because I don't know what she endured,' he said.
Soussana, an attorney at one of Israel’s leading IP firms, was home sick on Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists attacked Kibbutz Kfar Aza where she lived. In text messages with her family from the day, Soussana wrote that she was going to hide in a closet in her safe room, and then typed, “My battery is about to run out,” her last message to them, at 10:07 a.m., according to the Times of Israel. She was confirmed to be a hostage of Hamas 22 days after being kidnapped.
According to Qatar’s foreign ministry, the ceasefire has been extended an additional day following the same terms of the initial agreement in which Hamas will release 10 hostages per day in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners and the transfer of aid into Gaza.
Hamas is set to release eight more hostages this evening.