The last time Keren Shlem saw her daughter was in a video published by Hamas. The footage showed her with metal screws protruding from her shoulder and a wearied look on her face.
The metronomic thud of missile strikes could be heard in the distance.
“Everything is fine,” the young woman said in the video, appearing to be reading a prompt. “They are taking care of me, giving me medicine.”
Someone was seen bandaging her up at the start of the footage. Before she then began to read out her message, looking nervously at whoever was filming.
The 21-year-old added: “I only ask that they bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings. Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”
That was on 16 October.
Mia Shem, 21, is seen during a video published by Hamas on 16 October— (Telegram )
“It has been a month now and I know nothing about her,” Keren told The Independent. “I don’t know if she is dead or alive.”
In some ways, Mia’s family were privileged to see footage of her after 7 October. She was one of more than reported 240 hostages - four of which have since been released- and the majority of families have received no indication that their loved ones are alive.
But that video, just over a minute long, said as much as it did not.
“We saw only the top half of her body. Before she was kidnapped at that party, she called her friend and told them that they shot her in the leg,” Kerem said. “In that video, I did not see her legs.
“We also don’t know about her mental state. She was kidnapped. She saw her friends murdered. I don’t know what state she is in, mentally, physically. Where do they keep her? Does she see sunlight? Is she given something to eat or drink?”
On Monday, a video was released showing another hostage in Gaza. It was 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, 19.
The video began in a similar vein to the one of Mia from 16 October. Noa addressed the camera, said she was fine and called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza. She also appeared to be reading from a prompt.
But 51 seconds into the video, it abruptly cuts to Noa’s corpse.
The Israeli military said the following day that the footage was authentic; Noa had been killed, it said.
Family members, friends and supporters of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza take part in a march from Tel Aviv— (EPA)
Information on the hostages is rare - it is thus prized - but the video of Noa frightened many of the family members of the hundreds of hostages, including Kerem.
“My kids ran over here just to stop me from clicking on the link to the video,” she said. “But I know what is in that video.”
When asked how it affected her with regards to Mia, she added: “It shows that we don’t have time. I say this every day. We don’t have time.”
A lot has happened in the six weeks since Mia was taken hostage.
Israel said that 1,200 had been killed on 7 October.
In Gaza, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, as a result of Israeli airstrikes and a military incursion into the enclave.
Bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes lie on the ground at the yard of Al Shifa hospital— (AHMED EL MOKHALLALATI via REUTER)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said last week that “on average, a child is being killed every 10 minutes in Gaza”.
Despite the horror that has befallen Mia and her family, Keren said humanitarian aid into Gaza was justified and, even, vital.
“The civilians in Gaza did not do anything. It’s not their fault. They are people like me and you. They are caught up in this war,” she said. “Of course, everybody needs help.”
But she argued that there was a double standard being applied.
“Everyone gives humanitarian aid to Gaza but I think we deserve it too,” she said. “Nobody let us see our children. Nobody let the Red Cross, no organisation, go in to see our children.
“It is only fair that if the Palestinians have humanitarian aid then we need it too, at least to know if our dearest are alive or dead, sick or ill. This is really unbelievable.”
Israeli soldiers on an armed vehicle during a military operation around Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City— (Israeli Defence Forces/AFP via G)
This frustration was voiced by Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen on Tuesday after he met Red Cross officials in Geneva.
“None of our hostages have met the Red Cross,” Mr Cohen told reporters. “We don’t have any proof of life.”
A month after Hamas provided “proof of life” of Mia, Kerem is, once again, unable to know if her daughter is alive.
And while a largely united Israel supports the ongoing incursion into Gaza that began on 27 October, the reality of close combat and increased airstrikes is frightening for the families of the hostages.
“I am very, very scared. Anything can happen at any moment. It is a very dangerous situation. We are at war,” Kerem said.
“But I don’t know how to fight a war- I am only a mother - so I can only pray to god that it will end and that everybody will come back home safely.”
