Chapel Hill native, freed Hamas hostage Keith Siegel recounts time in captivity
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Chapel Hill man Kieth Siegel, who was held hostage by Hamas, is talking for the first time about his time in captivity.
After being held hostage for nearly 500 days, Siegel, 65, was released on Feb. 1 as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel. Two hostages were also released that day.
In a video released Friday overnight, Siegel said he lived in constant fear and was starved, as well as physically and emotionally tortured. He also thanked President Trump for helping secure his release.
Hostages freed from Gaza piece together a changed world
Siegel had so many questions: was his 97-year-old mother still alive? Which of his neighbors was killed in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack? Why did it take so long to free him?
With minimal access to media, the dual American-Israeli citizen learned months after he was captured that his son had survived the attack that launched the war in Gaza. He had heard that his family and others were advocating for the hostages' freedom. But beyond that, he knew very little about life outside his confines in Gaza.
"He really wanted to know everything as soon as possible, just to put all the question marks away and to know what happened," said his daughter, Elan Siegel.
Hostages freed as a part of a ceasefire in Gaza confronting a flood of information about loved ones and communities. Their families are working on filling them in on what they missed without potentially deepening their trauma.
Experts said it is important to be cautious.
SEE ALSO | Former Hamas hostage Keith Siegel is doing 'remarkably well' after release, niece says
"The information is definitely traumatic so you have to really be sensitive, careful and monitor the pace in which you expose the information," said Einat Yehene, who heads the rehabilitation division at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The first person Siegel asked about when returning home was his mother, Gladys. When his wife's eyes welled up, Siegel immediately understood his mother had died, according to his daughter.
Beyond their personal lives, freed hostages are also taking in more than a year's worth of world events: President Donald Trump is back in the White House; Israel and Iran engaged in their first direct attacks; Israel killed the longtime chief of the militant group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
"You answer only what he asks and not more than that," Siegel's daughter, Elan, said.
SEE ALSO | Wife of Keith Siegel, Chapel Hill man held hostage by Hamas, pleads for his release
But, the questions are relentless.
Siegel wanted to know what happened to his community of Kfar Aza.
"We asked him if he's sure that he's ready. And he said 'yes,' that he just wants to know. So I read him the list of 64 people" who were killed, his daughter said. She said his reaction to the news has been muted because "it's almost like he forgot how to feel" while in captivity.
Siegel's photo has been a mainstay at protests and on banners highlighting the plight of hostages, making him recognizable across Israel. Ahead of his release, dozens of Israelis posted videos of themselves on social media making his favorite pancake recipe.
Siegel's wife, Aviva, who was freed from captivity in the early weeks of the war, prepared a book for him that includes notes from the important figures she had lobbied on his behalf - from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to former U.S. President Joe Biden.
Siegel was especially befuddled by the revelation that world leaders knew about his captivity.
His daughter, Elan, recalled him saying: "If they knew, how can it be that I was there for so long?"
Associated Press' Tia Goldenberg contributed to this report.
