'What can I do to bring the others home?' Hostages freed from Hamas captivity vow all must return

American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, 65, centre, waves as he is escorted by Hamas fighters to be handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza City, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar, File)

TEL AVIV, Israel — For the final two months of his captivity in Gaza, American-Israeli Keith Siegel was forced to lie down at all times in a cramped room. For most of his ordeal there was little electricity or running water, which made hygiene impossible, he said.

When he returned to Israel last week, gaunt and pale, the first words to his family, according to his brother, Lee Siegel, were: “I’m back, I’m home.”

Then, he asked, “What can I do to help bring the other hostages home?”

Hostages are returning after 15 months in captivity as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and with their freedom, the first details of their ordeals are emerging.

Their accounts, told mostly through relatives, are shining a light on what the roughly 75 captives who remain in Gaza are facing, and are driving families of the released captives to keep up their public campaign until everyone is free.

“My family and I traveled the globe, knocking on every door, sharing our story with anyone who would listen,” Siegel’s wife, Aviva, a former hostage, told reporters after the release of her husband.

“We must not rest. We must not turn away,” she said, adding that the “hostages remaining in Gaza deserve better.”

After 15 months of devastating war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire deal last month. Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during the attack; around 75 remain in Gaza. About half are presumed by Israel to be dead.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says more than half the dead are women and children. The first stage of the ceasefire calls for a pause in fighting, the release of hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and an increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza. Another three hostages are expected to be released on Saturday.

The families of the hostages and their supporters have waged a tireless campaign in Israel and abroad to keep public attention on their loved ones and secure their release.

Their commitment to securing the release of all the remaining hostages is made all the more difficult because extension of the ceasefire is not guaranteed and relies on renewed negotiations between Israel and Hamas to carry the deal into a second phase, when more hostages are expected to be freed.

Siegel, 65, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken captive along with Aviva from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the communities hardest hit in Hamas' attack. She was released in a brief ceasefire in November 2023.

Lee Siegel, 73, said his brother told the family he was moved frequently and that for about six months he was kept alone, separate from other hostages. Beyond what his captors told him, he had very little exposure to the outside world, other than hearing rare snippets of radio or TV reports.

For long periods he was required to stay silent, he told his family.

Siegel drew on his meditation practice to help him stay grounded, his brother said. He would keep track of time by saying the date and the day of the week every day.

Siegel would have imagined conversations with each family member, according to his brother. If his captors allowed him to speak aloud, he would whisper these; otherwise he would have the conversations silently in his head. He would say, “Aviva, I love you,” or to his daughter, “Gal, I dreamed of you, I saw you.”

Even as he has started sharing some of his experiences with the family, Lee Siegel said they can’t begin to comprehend his ordeal. His brother is also grappling with the challenges of catching up on everything he missed, the seismic changes in Israel as well as personal family news: the death of their mother, the birth of great nieces and nephews.

“It’s a human being who was taken for 484 days, suffering the worst things we can appreciate,” Lee Siegel said.

Romi Gonen, 24, who was released on the first day of the ceasefire, will need a complex surgery and lengthy physical therapy for an untreated hand wound she suffered during the Hamas attack, according to her mother, Meirav Leshem Gonen.

While doctors said Gonen’s condition was stable when she returned, her mother said her skin was gray after being kept out of sunlight for nearly her entire captivity.

Leshem Gonen said her daughter lost 10 kilograms (22 pounds), a fifth of her body weight, and was often deprived of food by her captors, even when they had food to share. When she was freed, Gonen had lost the ability to recognize hunger, and didn’t want to eat at all, her mother said, adding that it was more than two weeks before she finally asked for something specific to eat.

Gonen has spoken very little to her family about what she went through, except to share humorous stories, trying to inject a bit of levity into a horrific situation because that’s the kind of person she is, her mother said.

“I ask everybody to take action to make sure the ceasefire will continue for the hostages to get out,” said Leshem Gonen, who has been a prominent voice for the hostages’ freedom and has continued the campaign for those still in captivity.

Lee Siegel said his family is taking some time to themselves before returning to the demonstrations, overseas travel and media interviews for the remaining hostages' release.

For now, the family is concentrating on the small things: just being able to embrace Siegel.

“It will take time for him to regroup physically and emotionally, but he’s strong, and he’s resilient,” Lee Siegel said.

“Actually, I think he provides us with more strength than we can provide for him.”

Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press