Keith Siegel, who was held captive in Gaza for over a year, appeared before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday to share the trauma he endured and draw attention to the plight of the remaining hostages still being held.
“I came here to talk about the difficulty there and to illustrate, as much as I can, the suffering of the 50 hostages still in Gaza,” Siegel said. “I was there for 484 days. They have been there for 641 days. It is very hard to describe in words the suffering they are enduring.”
Siegel was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza and spent his captivity in Gaza alongside fellow hostage Omri Miran, who was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz and is the father of two children.
“The separation from family is painful in itself, even before mentioning the violence and abuse,” he said. “They threatened to kill me several times, pressed a gun to my head, and I saw hostages who experienced extreme violence, including a female hostage to whom they pressed a sharp rod against her forehead and a gun to her head. These images still haunt me to this day.”
Siegel also recalled the condition of Matan Engrest, who was injured during the October 7 attacks and later became his cellmate.
“We endured severe violence together. We even had to beg to go to the bathroom,” Siegel told the committee. “Matan was held in tunnels, suffering from breathing distress. Eventually, they took him out to be used in a prisoner exchange. He fought for my kibbutz, and now we have to fight for him.”
He went on to speak of other captives by name, including Gali and Ziv Berman, siblings who he said were cruelly separated from their parents while in captivity. Their father, Doron Berman, is currently in grave condition, Siegel noted.
“Although I returned, part of me stayed there. In Gaza. With them. They suffer every minute of every day,” he said.
Concluding his remarks, Siegel issued a heartfelt and urgent plea to leaders in Israel and abroad.
“The fallen may disappear if we don’t bring them back. Every minute is critical. I call on the prime minister – and also on President Trump – to act urgently. Now.”
{Matzav.com Israel}