THE Israeli hostage Mia Schem who was released at the end of last month broke her silence and recounted how she lived during her days of captivity by Hamas in Gaza.

Mia, 21, spent 54 days in captivity in the Palestinian enclave after being shot and taken hostage in the Nova festival massacre in southern Israel on October 7, before finally being released as part of the Hamas-Israel truce and exchange on November 30.

In her first interview after her release, she told Israel’s Channel 13 that: “I wanted to show the real situation for the people living in Gaza, who they really are and what I have been through there.”

“I went through a holocaust,” he said. “Everyone there is a terrorist.”

She, a French-Israeli tattoo artist from Shoham in central Israel, claimed she was detained with a civilian family, with children, while in Gaza.

“They are families under the Hamas regime, you know. I realized I was staying with a family. And then I start asking myself questions… why am I staying with a family? Why are there children here? Why is there a woman here?’

Before she was released, she was made to make a video talking about her experience, in which she said: “People very nice, very kind to me… Good food and kindness and all the good things.”

Her statements contradicted reports from other hostages who recounted abuse in captivity, prompting concerns that she was forced to speak against her will.