Freed Hamas hostage Mia Shem gets engaged a year after her release

An Israeli woman who was held captive by Hamas for 54 days has celebrated the first anniversary of her release with an engagement to her childhood friend. Mia Schem, who became a prominent voice for the release of hostages after her ordeal, shared the news on November 28 after Yinon Hassan, 24, proposed to her in Caesarea, a picturesque coastal town.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Hassan, who began his relationship with Shem after her release in the first wave of hostage exchanges last November, proposed to her by falling on one knee and asking for her hand in marriage. Schem posted her photos celebrating the engagement by flaunting her ring and sharing a kiss.

Her post was met with widespread support from the public, and Israeli restaurants even offered to host or cater her upcoming bachelorette party.

Speculation about their engagement began in August 2024 when Schem took part in a fashion campaign for an Israeli designer and presented a wedding dress while proudly displaying scars from the October 7, 2023 attack. The former hostage was among those captured during the raid on the Tribe of Nova music festival. She also had a gunshot wound to her arm.

Shem was featured prominently in early Hamas propaganda videos in which she was forced to praise the three-hour operation her captors carried out on her. She later recounted the excruciating pain her injury caused and revealed that her captors had made no attempt to ease her suffering. She was also locked in a cage for days and subjected to cruel taunts, including watching news reports in which her mother pleaded for her safe return.

Since her release, Schem has been a strong advocate for the hostages still held in Gaza, pushing for greater awareness and action. During a recent visit to New York, she explained the purpose of her involvement.

“I have to fight for the rest of the hostages – this is my life. I feel like I have a mission – to speak, to tell my story to the world, for the other hostages who can’t. And to be the voice of the girls who are still here,” she told the New York Post in early November.