Mia Schem: Wounded festival-goer in Hamas hostage video freed

A wounded festival-goer is among the latest hostages released from Gaza - having appeared in a video by Hamas after its 7 October attack on Israel.

Israeli-French tattoo artist Mia Schem, 21, was freed with another woman on the seventh day of a truce deal, which has so far seen 99 people released.

Several others are due to be freed on Thursday, and Israel is set to release more Palestinians from its jails.

Hamas took about 240 hostages, with many taken from the Supernova festival.

Ms Schem was among them, and became the first person to appear in a Hamas hostage video on 16 October.

Images on Thursday showed Schem being handed to humanitarian organisation the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - along with Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old lawyer.

It was not immediately clear why they were released ahead of several others who are also expected to be allowed to return to Israel from Gaza on Thursday.

Thirty more Palestinian prisoners are also set for release in return, under the terms of the deal between Israel and Hamas.

Advocacy group the Palestinian Prisoners Club says the latest list includes 22 children and eight women.

Meanwhile, mediators are continuing with efforts to further extend the pause in fighting - to allow more hostages to leave Gaza and more aid to enter.

Speaking on his third visit to the Middle East since the war broke out last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the truce was "producing results".

The images of Schem published on Thursday represented the first glimpse of her since the emergence of the Hamas footage last month - which showed her with an injured arm being treated while she was in captivity.

That video was condemned by the French government, and prompted Schem's mother Keren to hold a news conference in Tel Aviv calling for her daughter's immediate release.

Family video - published in Israeli media on Thursday - showed Keren weeping with joy at the news of her daughter's release, exclaiming: "Mia's coming back!"

Schem's father David gave his own reaction to Israel's Channel 12 TV: "It's the happiest day in the world; she's an amazing girl. I'm not going to leave her for a long period."

French President Emmanuel Macron described Schem's release as a source of "great joy".

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Schem's friend Elia Toledano remained in captivity, having also been abducted from the Supernova musical festival on 7 October.

The organisation described Schem as being "full of joy for life, and with a huge heart". It also saluted her "fighting spirit".

It also gave details about the other woman released on Thursday, lawyer Amit Soussana.

Ms Soussana lives by herself in Kfar Aza kibbutz, and was kidnapped while hiding in her shelter. She is said to be a fan of rock music and tennis, and has three cats.

As a teenager, Ms Tamimi became a symbol of resistance to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. She was arrested earlier this month over an Instagram post, which her family say she did not write.

As of Wednesday night, 210 Palestinian prisoners had been released.

They were chosen from an original list of 300 Palestinians compiled by Israel and had been accused of a range of offences, from throwing stones to incitement to attempted murder.

Fewer than a quarter of those on the list had been convicted; the vast majority were being held on remand while awaiting trial.