Standing amid the ruins of his former home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Keith Siegel, who spent 484 days in Hamas captivity, has made an emotional appeal to former President Donald Trump to help secure the release of remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
"Hello Mr. President, my name is Keith Siegel, and I am the first American hostage who was released in the deal you worked so hard to advance," Siegel said in the video, which Trump later shared on Truth Social. The message, filmed against a backdrop of destruction that was once his peaceful community, carries the weight of someone who intimately understands the horrors faced by those still in captivity.
Siegel, 65, was abducted from Kfar Aza during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack alongside his wife, Aviva. While she was released after 51 days as part of an earlier deal, Keith remained in captivity until February 1, 2025, enduring nearly 16 months of isolation, torture, and deprivation.
"I'm standing now in front of my home in Kfar Aza, the kibbutz where I live," Siegel continued in his message, gesturing to the widespread devastation. "It's so hard to understand and process what I see today – homes destroyed and burned by Hamas, people murdered and burned alive. The stories about what happened in Kfar Aza that day are horrifying."
