Freed Israeli hostage pleads with Netanyahu and Biden: ‘Stop the war and bring them home’

Amna Nawaz:

For 40 years, Aviva Siegel and her husband, Keith, lived at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, not far from the Gaza Strip.

During the October 7 Hamas attacks, they were both taken hostage. On November 26, after 51 days in Gaza, Aviva, a 62-year-old Israeli kindergarten teacher who was born in South Africa, was released. But her husband, Keith, who is an American and Israeli, is still being held hostage.

In her first interview, Aviva Siegel tells the "NewsHour" about surviving October 7, her time in captivity and what she wants to happen next. We spoke earlier today, and I began by asking her about the day of the Hamas attack.

Aviva Siegel, Released Israeli Hostage:

Well, the first alarm came at 6:35, and we ran into our shelter. And we closed the door. We closed the window.

And then there was explosions all over and alarms all over. We started hearing gunshotting, and we understood that something's happening. And somebody wrote in the group of the kibbutz that there are Hamas in Israel on the kibbutz.

So I was very, very scared. But Keith said: "Don't worry. We locked. We don't need to worry."

And they just opened the door, just opened the door, and all came in and took us. They were like monsters.

Amna Nawaz:

Aviva, in the moment that that door opens, what goes through your mind?

Aviva Siegel:

I was hysterical.

And the beginning, when they opened the door, I started screaming. I screamed. I didn't even feel my body. And then I was out of my body walking with them and doing what they told me to do. They asked where the keys of Keith's car was, and we took them to the car, and off we went.

Amna Nawaz:

They drove you and your husband in your own car to Gaza? Do you know where you were taken?

Aviva Siegel:

Keith wanted to run away. And I told Keith: "Don't run away, because they're going to shoot us," because they did shoot us before we — before we went into the car.

And they pushed Keith and they broke two of his ribs. And it was terrible at the beginning. He could hardly move and he could hardly sit. He could hardly eat. And I was very worried about him. And when they shot us, they shot his hand.

Amna Nawaz:

Were you kept in that same place during your entire time in captivity?

Aviva Siegel:

Keith and I were moved for 13 times. We were up ground, down ground. We were down ground, and we could not breathe. And we were sure that we're going to die.

And for the 51 days that I was there, there wasn't a minute that I thought that I will ever come back alive. We were scared all the time.

Amna Nawaz:

You said you were moved 13 times over your 51 days in captivity, buildings aboveground and underground. Tell me about underground. We have heard a lot about these Hamas tunnels. What was it like?

Aviva Siegel:

We had to climb down and go down, and go down lots and lots of stairs until we got there. And we could feel there was no oxygen. So they left us there just like in a very, very small place, with a toilet with no water, with hardly no food, no water.

And because there wasn't oxygen for them to breathe there, they just left us there.

Amna Nawaz:

Aviva, tell me about how you were treated by the men holding you hostage. Did you witness any violence while you were there?

Aviva Siegel:

Lots of violence. We could not understand why they were behaving like they behaved to us.

Everything we were told to do, we did. And they just turned over on us. They were five minutes like, sort of, like people. And then, two hours, they were like very mean and horrible to us and shouting at us and told us to keep quiet.

They, like, let us lie down for 15 hours, and not even move and not even talk. Most of the time, we couldn't even talk. We had to whisper. And most of the time, we couldn't even whisper. We just had to sit or lie down, not move, and just wait for the time to go by.

Amna Nawaz:

You mentioned the cruelty of your captors. And, as you have probably seen, there's been a lot of reporting and testimonies documenting specifically the sexual violence perpetrated against women on the day of the attacks on October 7.

I'm sorry to ask it this way, but do you know anything about that kind of violence perpetrated against women either on that day or during your time in captivity?

Aviva Siegel:

Yes, I'm lucky that I'm old. I wasn't touched.

But I do know that it's true. I was there. And it's true. And it's terrible. And I don't want to talk about it.

Amna Nawaz:

I just want to be clear. When you say it's true, you're talking about what you witnessed during your time in captivity, not on October 7? Is that correct?

Aviva Siegel:

Correct.

Amna Nawaz:

So you have probably seen, some of the reporting has said one of the reasons that Hamas may be reluctant to release women they're holding hostage is because of the sexual violence perpetrated against those women during their time in captivity. Do you believe that to be true?

Aviva Siegel:

I think so.

Amna Nawaz:

Is there anything else you can tell us about that, anything else you think it's important for people to understand?

Aviva Siegel:

I think the world has to wake up.

Girls aren't to touch. Nobody should touch anybody without permission. And we need to get them out. We need to get them out as quick as possible, because they have been there for 88 days, and that's enough.

Amna Nawaz:

You were held for 51 days during some of the most intense bombing campaigns by Israel. Did any of those bombs ever come close to where you were?

Aviva Siegel:

Very close.

One of the times, the whole house was shaking, and one of the Hamas people went out and said that it fell 100 meters next to us. And when we moved from there, we could see that the building that was next to us was finished. It was just on the ground. It fell just next to us, and lots of them fell next to us.

They bombed all the town night, day, every minute.

Amna Nawaz:

Did you ever think that you might actually lose your life in one of those bombs?

Aviva Siegel:

All the time.

Amna Nawaz:

Aviva, you were released on Sunday, November 26. That was part of a temporary cease-fire with Hamas. There was an exchange of dozens of hostages they had been holding in exchange for the release of Palestinians that had been held in Israel.

At what moment did it hit you that you were finally free?

Aviva Siegel:

Only when the Red Cross moved me to the Israelis. That's the only minute that I believed that that's going to happen.

The evening before I was out, he came and he said: "Tomorrow, you go to Israel."

So I said: "I'm not going without Keith."

And he said: "But Keith can't come. He needs to stay here. And you are going."

And I said: "No, I want Keith to come with me."

Amna Nawaz:

Were you and Keith being held in the same place at that time?

Aviva Siegel:

Keith and I were together until nearly the end.

Amna Nawaz:

So, you knew in advance that you would be freed, but he wasn't.

How do you process that? What did you talk about with him?

Aviva Siegel:

We didn't talk about it at all before, because we didn't even think ever that we will ever get out there. We thought that we're going to die there. We're going to stay there. The Hamas people told us all the time: "You are not going back to Israel. You go to Europe, because there's no Israel anymore. Israel has been destroyed. The whole world has been bombing Israel. Israel is finished. So you have got no place to go back to."

And I believed them.

Amna Nawaz:

And in the moment when they move you to be freed, as they said you would be, do you have to say goodbye to your husband in that moment?

Aviva Siegel:

They hardly let me. I said: "Sorry. I'm going to say goodbye to Keith," because he was in a different room. And I just pushed them and ran to Keith. I gave him a big, huge hug. And I said: "You be strong for me. I will be strong for you," because I didn't know if I will ever see him again.

And I didn't know if it was the truth. But that's what I did. And then I walked out with my head up and I said, I'm going to be strong for Keith, and that's what I did.

And I'm strong for Keith now, but I want him back. He's 64 years old. He has health problems. And he needs to get out now with all the other hostages — 88 days. There's been a month that nobody has been released. And if they did it once, that means they can do it again. They need to get them out now, before it's too late.

We need Keith home for the family. He needs to see his grandchildren. I asked his granddaughter that's 8 today: "What kind of a grandfather was Keith?"

So she said: "He was the best grandfather in the world."

And that's Keith. He's kind. He's soft. He's special. He's such a giving person. And everybody loves him. We love him. I love him. The grandchildren need him. His kids need him. He needs to come back now.

Amna Nawaz:

Aviva, what has every day since you were released been like for you, knowing that Keith is still held hostage there?

Aviva Siegel:

Terrible. Terrible. I am just so sad. And I have to be strong because I have four children to look after and to be their mom.

And I want to be strong for them. And I promised Keith that I'm going to be strong for him. I can't explain what a horrible feeling that is living in there.

Amna Nawaz:

There have been a few exchanges, as you mentioned already, but it has been several weeks. There's been no hostage release. Why do you think that is? Why has it come to a standstill?

Aviva Siegel:

I have a feeling that Netanyahu wants to keep the war going because he wants to win the war. But he can't keep the war going and get the hostages out.

He needs to keep — he needs to go to a cease-fire and then get them out. And he needs to get them out now, as quick as possible, because 88 days are enough.

Amna Nawaz:

Are you worried that Prime Minister Netanyahu is prioritizing winning the war over bringing the hostages home?

Aviva Siegel:

I have got a feeling that that's why the war is continuing. He wants to win the war.

Amna Nawaz:

But do you think he is prioritizing that over bringing hostages home?

Aviva Siegel:

I am not a politician, and there's things that I don't understand. But I do know that there needs to be a cease-fire for them to come out, and there isn't a cease-fire.

Amna Nawaz:

At the same time, Aviva, the war does rage on, right? And we are now at a point where some 21,000 Palestinians have been killed as a response to that one attack, mostly women and children.

I just wonder how you are watching and processing all of that while your husband is still held hostage there.

Aviva Siegel:

I want to ask Biden and I want to ask all the leaders of the world to make this world a better world for everybody, for every country, for every mother that has a child, for every grandfather and grandmother that has grandchildren.

Amna Nawaz:

At the same — it's not President Biden who has launched this campaign though, right? What would you say to your own government about its response in Gaza since the October 7 attack?

Aviva Siegel:

I want to just say that all the leaders of the world need to get together and be strong enough to stop wars all over and to stop the war with Hamas, that people — innocent people will be able to just live lives, like our life was before.

So I want to ask Biden to lead it, because he's the leader of the world, and to put pressure on Netanyahu to stop the war and bring them home. We need to Keith home.

Amna Nawaz:

Today marks 88 days that your husband has been held hostage in Gaza. If you could say anything to him right now, what would you say?

Aviva Siegel:

That I love him and that I want him back, and that we're doing everything we can.

But we're not politicians. We're doing everything, the whole family, my daughters, my family. We're all doing everything we can that Keith will come home, because we need him with us, and he needs us with him.

Amna Nawaz:

Aviva Siegel, thank you so, so much for joining us today. We are thinking of you and your family and of Keith. And we hope to speak with you again soon.

Thank you.

Aviva Siegel:

Thank you, Amna.