Hamas captured 251 people on October 7, 2023. On Saturday, February 1, Hamas released Israelis Ofer Kalderon, Yarden Bibas, and American Israeli Keith Siegel.
Keith Siegel is adjusting to life after being held captive for 484 days. He was released among the two others in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Siegel shared his experience of being deprived of both food and sunlight during his fifteen months. Although he was a vegetarian, he occasionally ate meat products that were given to him in order to survive.
He was also forced ahead of his release to write a letter thanking his Hamas captors for his treatment while being held in captivity.
His family has asked that the letter he was forced to write not be published by the media.
Now, he is eager to help hostages still under Hamas captivity in any way he can.
“My father went through something that no person should ever have to go through,” Keith’s daughter, Shir Siegel said.
Siegel is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He told his family that during his time he saw news coverage of the demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where Israeli’s in their hundreds demanded the release of the hostages.
He stated that the rallies gave him the strength to keep going despite the brutal conditions.
His wife, Aviva Siegel, thanked President Trump for pushing for her husband's release as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, allowing them to reunite after Hamas kidnapped both of them during the October 7 terrorist attack that killed more than a thousand people.
“I didn’t know if I’ll ever see Keith again, and I didn’t know if they're going to kill me or they’re going to kill Keith. This reunion was made possible thanks to Donald Trump. Your brave actions have brought Keith back to us,” Aviva Siegel said.
The couple was taken from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Aviva was released back in November 2023 during the first round of hostage exchanges.
During Siegel’s handover to the Red Cross at the Gaza City port, he appeared thin and pale but was able to walk, aided by masked and armed Hamas fighters.
He was forced to accept two Hamas ‘Gift Bags’ and a lanyard around his neck with a Palestinian flag and the insignia of Hamas’s Al Qassam Brigades. He was also forcibly paraded on a Hamas stage overlooking the sea in front of a banner proclaiming “Nazi Zionism will not win.”
Once he was delivered by the Red Cross to Israeli military forces, Siegel was returned to Israel and airlifted to Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, where he was reunited with his family.
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