A year after the devastating October 7 massacre, Mia Schem, a survivor of HAMXS captivity, graces the cover of TIME together with her mother and sister. Mia was abducted from the Nova music festival and held in Gaza for 55 days before being released in a prisoner exchange. In a moving reflection, her mother, Keren Schem, speaks about the lingering trauma and the ongoing struggle for the remaining 101 hostages still trapped in Gaza.
“It’s really hard to internalize that a year has passed and there are still hostages in Gaza. There are still families that are in the same situation that I was in for two months. It’s something that is impossible to understand.
We still have not returned to normal life because the rehabilitation process is long. She needs to go through more surgeries, and also the emotional recovery. I don’t know how many years that will take. And because of the complex reality in Israel, the hostages, war, the soldiers—it’s not really possible to recover. Because of the trauma that Mia went through and that I went through, the triggers are always around. There is no normal life, and life before Oct. 7 is not life after Oct. 7. We still haven’t developed a new routine and lifestyle because we are still in the process of recovery.
Life has returned to normal, people returned to work. That’s how it is, it’s a natural thing. But it’s important to understand that 101 hostages are still in the tunnels of Gaza. It’s a situation that is unfathomable for the hostages and their families. The world can’t continue to go as normal so long as there are still people there
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