Surviving Hamas: The story of Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American hostage

(NewsNation) — Tortured, starved and holding onto beingness without lights oregon water, Keith Siegel’s communicative is 1 of survival.

In Hamas captivity for 484 days during the war successful Gaza, the Israeli American was released Feb. 1, on with 2 different hostages that day. He was the archetypal American to beryllium freed.

Though he’s doing “OK” now, Keith didn’t deliberation helium would unrecorded to spot freedom, his woman told NewsNation's "Morning successful America with Hena Doba” Sunday morning.

“He went done truthful galore days of torture and truthful galore times of minutes that helium didn't deliberation that helium would survive,” said Aviva Siegel, a subsister herself.

In the opening of Keith's modulation to freedom, helium wanted to beryllium alone, Aviva said, but she understood.

A redeeming infinitesimal pursuing the calamity was gathering his grandchildren.

“They each cried. And to spot my grandson that's 10 years aged crying and conscionable hugging kids and not letting go,” Aviva said. “We are conscionable the happiest radical successful Earth to person him back.”

Surviving Hamas

Hamas militants paraded him successful beforehand of a crowd, a accordant diagnostic of the hostage releases successful which immoderate smiled and waved contempt appearing physically weak.

“For the past fractional a year, helium was lying connected the mattress connected the floor. And helium was unsocial astir of the time. He didn't person anybody to speech to anybody to consciousness that he's with somebody, conscionable with the Arabs and with the Hamas terrorists.”

“I was starved and I was tortured, some physically and emotionally,” Keith said successful the video. “When the warfare intensified, the terrorists who helped maine treated maine adjacent worse than usual. Terrorists kicked me, spat connected maine and held maine with nary water, nary airy and nary aerial to breathe.”

Now that her hubby is home, Aviva said she feels “like a antithetic person,” but she is heartbroken for the families who haven’t been reunited with their loved ones, saying captivity is similar “going done hell.”

“Nobody successful this satellite should spell done with what I went done and what Keith went through,” she said. She was held hostage for astir 2 months, released agelong earlier her husband.

More hostages expected to beryllium freed

The Israeli authorities is delaying the release of much than 600 Palestinian prisoners until the adjacent hostage release, according to the premier minister’s office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admonished Hamas’ actions, calling the charades “disgraceful ceremonies.”

Netanyahu’s ultimatum puts the phase-two negotiations and the destiny of the remaining surviving hostages into question arsenic the warfare drags connected past 500 days.

On Saturday, six hostages were liberated successful the last merchandise of the archetypal signifier of the three-part ceasefire deal.

Last week was an unexpected rollercoaster of emotions erstwhile it came to different family, the Bibases.

Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas’ body was expected to beryllium returned past week, on with the bodies of her 2 sons and different hostage, Oded Lifshitz. Hamas had turned implicit the incorrect assemblage to Israel, present determined to beryllium that of an unidentified Palestinian woman. Days later, Bibas' assemblage was returned to her family.

Hearing the news, “just broke my bosom ... I deliberation it's conscionable a slap successful the face,” Aviva said. “I didn't adjacent deliberation that they're capable to bash thing truthful cruel. But they did.”

Her connection to the Israeli government: “Get them retired now. Don't adjacent deliberation of (causing) immoderate problems due to the fact that we request them backmost now. We request them backmost alive.”