WATCH: Hamas Releases First Purported Video of Israeli Hostage, Mia Shem

The Palestinian terror organization known as Hamas has released what is being described as a video of one of the 199 known Israeli hostages taken to Gaza during a massive terror attack that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and wounded over 4,100 on Oct.7.

The video shows a young woman who is resting in bed and having bandages applied to her right arm. She has tattoos on her left.

Hamas releases its first footage of a hostage. The group says it is providing medical treatment to her. Though I think this is a poor attempt to show they are treating the hostages well. The hostage appears to be Israeli. pic.twitter.com/JDATGYenCr

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 16, 2023

In a straight-to-camera shot, she says (translated from Hebrew):

Hi, I am Mia Shem, I am 21 years old, from Shoham, at the moment I am in Gaza, I came back on Saturday towards morning from the area of Sderot, there was a party, I was badly wounded in my hand, from the party they took me to Gaza, they took me to the hospital for three hours, they are worried about me, they are taking care of me, they are giving me medicines, everything is fine. I’m just asking to be returned home as soon as possible, to my family, my parents and my brothers. Please get us out of here as soon as possible. Thank you.

Keren Shem spoke to Katie Couric several days ago about her missing daughter, who appears to be the same young woman in the video.

Hamas evidently hopes to use the video to pressure Israel to negotiate, and to stop attacking its positions in Gaza.

Editor’s Note:  This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel.  The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.