Hamas has included an American-Israeli in its hostage releases for the primary time because the militant group’s cease-fire settlement with Israel got here into impact two weeks in the past.
On Saturday, Hamas handed the hostage, Keith Siegel, over to the Pink Cross at a ceremony in Gaza Metropolis, with dozens of rifle-wielding militants standing close by.
Mr. Siegel, 65, and his spouse, Aviva Siegel, 63, had been kidnapped within the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They had been taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a small farming neighborhood close to Israel’s border with Gaza.
Palestinian militants launched his spouse, Aviva, throughout a short-lived cease-fire in November 2023, and she or he has since been campaigning for her husband’s freedom.
Mr. Siegel, a North Carolina native, immigrated in 1980 to Israel, the place he has labored as an occupational therapist. He and his spouse have 9 kids and grandchildren.
In June, Mr. Siegel’s brother, Lee Siegel, described the agony of watching rounds of cease-fire talks, solely to have his hopes be dashed days later.
“It’s extremely irritating to have this yo-yo expertise as soon as once more,” Lee stated on the time. “Day by day that goes by, it turns into exponentially tougher to proceed with hope.”
The present cease-fire was reached after greater than a yr of oblique negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
On Saturday, Leora Schwartz, Lee’s sister-in legislation, stated she felt some reduction in seeing Keith stroll out of captivity.
“You’re feeling like you may breathe once more,” she stated in a telephone interview.
The Israeli authorities have stated they imagine that solely two different American-Israeli hostages are nonetheless dwelling. One is because of be freed within the coming 4 weeks, and the opposite within the second section of the cease-fire.
The Israeli authorities have stated they imagine that Palestinians militants in Gaza are holding 4 our bodies of twin American-Israeli residents.
Hamas and Israel haven’t but negotiated the main points of the second section of the cease-fire, however these talks are anticipated to begin within the coming days.
Kinfolk of hostages scheduled to come back out within the second section have expressed issues that Israel might return to struggle towards Hamas after the primary section if the militant group doesn’t agree to surrender its management over Gaza. They fear that such a state of affairs might endanger their family members.
