The rape trial of an ex-Israeli hostage caught worldwide attention on social media, with comments saying, “it was safer for her when she was with Hamas,” Israeli media said on Thursday.

Mia Schem, 23, was released by Hamas from Gaza in November 2023 during a week-long ceasefire between the Israeli army and the Palestinian resistance group.

Schem said that she was raped by a well-known Israeli fitness trainer and influencer in her house after giving her a date-rape drug.

"This was my biggest fear my whole life, before captivity, during captivity," Haaretz daily quoted Schem as saying.

"And it happened to me after captivity, in my safest place." According to Maariv daily, Schem’s case did not stay within Israel’s borders after it was found out that the former hostage was the complainant in the rape trial of the famous fitness trainer.

“After the full disclosure of the rape case, people on social media around the world decided to comment on the case,” the newspaper said, quoting some supportive reactions.

“It was safer for her when she was with Hamas,” said some social media users, according to Maariv.

Israeli estimates suggest that 59 captives remain in Gaza, with 24 believed to be alive. In contrast, over 9,500 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israel under harsh conditions, including reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect, according to both Palestinian and Israeli rights organisations.

More than 52,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.