Freed Hamas Hostage Praises Trump, Calls for Him To Bring All Hostages Home

Matthew Xiao(Free Beacon)

An American citizen held hostage by Hamas since October 7, 2023, thanked President Donald Trump in a video on Friday, saying that Trump is “the reason I am home alive.”

“Since February 1, I am a newly released Hamas hostage. I’m a survivor. I was held for 484 days in unimaginable conditions. Every single day felt like it could be my last,” 65-year-old Keith Siegel said. “President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive. You are the reason I was reunited with my beloved wife, four children, and five grandchildren.”

Siegel is the first American released since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal took effect on January 19. The deal came just days after Trump reiterated his warning that “all hell will break out” if the hostages held in Gaza were not freed by the time he took office on January 20. The Biden administration had failed to secure a lasting ceasefire deal.

The ceasefire appeared fragile this week after Hamas said on Monday that it would stop releasing hostages. On Thursday, however, it announced that it “reaffirms its commitment to implementing the agreement as signed, including the exchange of prisoners.” The terrorist group has released 21 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, with 73 hostages, including American citizen Edan Alexander, remaining in Gaza.

The terrorist group is set to release 36-year-old American citizen Sagui Dekel-Chen and two others on Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces have confirmed that at least 35 hostages are dead.

Siegel in the video noted that Trump’s “leadership, power, and authority are necessary to enforce the ceasefire and put an end to the unnecessary daily dangers to the lives of innocent hostages and civilians.”

“I trust in your strength and leadership, Mr. President,” Siegel continued. “The helpless hostages in the dark, cold tunnels in Gaza also trust you. Please bring them home.”

Siegel, who grew up in North Carolina and moved to Israel four decades ago, was among seven American citizens taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 attack. The Palestinian terrorists killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 251 others, prompting a years-long Israeli offensive in Gaza.