Hamas has included an American-Israeli in its hostage releases for the primary time for the reason that 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, have been kidnapped within the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They have 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 he or she 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 youngsters 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. “Daily 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 regulation, stated she felt some reduction in seeing Keith stroll out of captivity.
“You are feeling like you may breathe once more,” she stated in a cellphone interview.
The Israeli authorities have stated they consider 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 part of the cease-fire.
The Israeli authorities have stated they consider that Palestinians militants in Gaza are holding 4 our bodies of twin American-Israeli residents.
Hamas and Israel haven’t but negotiated the small print of the second part of the cease-fire, however these talks are anticipated to start out within the coming days.
Kinfolk of hostages scheduled to return out within the second part have expressed issues that Israel might return to conflict in opposition to Hamas after the primary part 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.
