From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Freed hostage, whose husband is still captive, says ‘I thought we were forgotten’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Released hostage Aviva Siegel, a native of South Africa, whose husband, US-Israeli citizen Keith Siegel is still held hostage, speaks at the 100-day rally in Tel Aviv.
“I belonged to Hamas,” says Siegel. “I could die and Keith would be alone. Or he would die and I would be alone. Or we would be injured and die slowly.”
Siegel speaks about moving 13 different times during her captivity, about being left in “a scary dark tunnel, without enough oxygen, and left in a small space. We were sure those were our last hours, and then we were left for days and they told us that Israel was no longer,” she says. “I thought we would never return. I thought we were forgotten.”
As Siegel speaks during a rainy point in the rally, the audience is silent, rapt, listening to every word.
“I saw abuses that are impossible to describe,” says Siegel. “I went through 54 days of hell and can’t let it continue. I beg the war cabinet to bring them home alive. We lost 64 people in Kfar Aza and we’re broken. I so hope to wait [at the border] for Keith [when he is released] to come home,” she adds.
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