“They force you to stop being human.” Released hostages on their experiences in Hamas captivity

Keith Siegel, 65, released on Feb. 1, was kept in a cage and starved. At a press conference at Ichilov Hospital, where he was taken from Gaza, his daughter Shir described his conditions as “inhuman”: “He barely saw daylight, went hungry for long periods, and lost a significant amount of weight. He was isolated for a long time and at times lost hope of ever returning home.”

Siegel's wife, Aviva, was also kidnapped on October 7 and returned to Israel in November 2023. In an interview with the AP after her release, she said: “Hostages were chained, tortured, starved, beaten up into pieces. I saw that in front of my eyes.” The terrorists dragged the 63-year-old woman by her hair and kicked her into a car when moving her from place to place.

At first, she and her husband were held in a Hamas member’s house, then in a tunnel with other abductees. Seven people were crammed into a room no larger than “three yoga mats”:

“They used to starve us while they ate in front of us and not bring us water for hours and days. I had an infection in my stomach. I was dehydrated. We had to beg — beg — for water. Beg and beg for food.”