Keith Siegel, a 65-year-old American-Israeli, was freed by Hamas on Saturday morning, making him the first US citizen released under the ongoing ceasefire deal.
Siegel was held captive for 484 days after being kidnapped with his wife, Aviva, during a Hamas raid on their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023.
The Red Cross arranged Siegel’s release just before 10.30 am local time.Hamas handed him over to the group and escorted him to a stage where he was presented before being freed. In April, Siegel appeared in a Hamas video with fellow hostage Omri Miran, looking thin and pleading for a ceasefire.
Siegel’s wife, Aviva, was released in November 2023 as part of an earlier swap, but their 43-year marriage was strained by his long captivity. Aviva had worked hard to get her husband freed, calling on US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for help.
She described the brutal conditions her husband endured. “It’s just cruel to think that he’s [been] in such terrible conditions for so long,” Aviva told The New York Post last October, recalling her own time in captivity in Hamas tunnels with little food, water, or oxygen. “What they’re going through is the cruelest thing on Earth,” she added.
Siegel’s daughter shared the emotional moment on Instagram, posting a video of Aviva saying, “Dad is coming! Dad is on the list!”
Siegel’s release is part of the ongoing ceasefire and prisoner swap. Earlier this morning, two other hostages, Yarden Bibas, the father of the youngest Israeli child kidnapped by Hamas, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, were released in Khan Younis.
Furthermore, two other American hostages, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Edan Alexander, are still in captivity. It is expected that Alexander will be released in the second phase of the ceasefire.
However, four other American hostages — Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, and Gadi and Judi Haggai — have been confirmed dead by Israeli officials.
In the hours after his release, Israeli military forces confirmed that Siegel had crossed into Israeli territory, escorted by both IDF and Israeli Security Agency forces. The military said, “A short while ago, the returning civilian hostage, Keith Siegel, crossed the border into Israeli territory accompanied by IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) forces.”
