
Dad who endured 484 days in Hamas hands reveals horror sight of captors torturing woman with pole will haunt him forever
Keith Siegel and his wife Aviva were brutally kidnapped from kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023.
6
6
6
Between 10 and 15 vicious, armed Hamas terrorists broke into their home, dragging them out of their safe room at gunpoint.
Both were injured as the brutes forced the couple to take them to their car, which they used to drive the terrified pair across the border.
Keith and Aviva, who have been married for more than 40 years and share four children, were then pushed into an extremely cramped tunnel for three days.
Before Aviva's release 51 days later, they were moved 13 times, while Keith was relocated 33 times before he was freed earlier this year.
Speaking of her harrowing experience in captivity, Aviva said: "Most of the time, I just wanted to die.
"It was too much for me, a human being, going through what I went through and to see what the Hamas terrorists did to Keith and the girls [other hostages]".
American- Israeli Keith, 65, spent a shocking 484 days in captivity before he was finally released on February 1.
At the Israeli Embassy in London yesterday, brave Keith recounted his agonising experience.
"I was held for 484 days, out of which six months I was alone," he said.
"I was locked up in a room by myself. I was disconnected totally from any media and I had no idea what was going on a lot of the time.
Moment last known living US hostage kidnapped on Oct 7 is reunited with his family after finally being released by Hamas
"Terrorists kicked me, spat on me and cursed me for no reason.
"I was threatened with death several times. I had guns pointed at me, rifles and pistols. And they threatened to kill me.
"I said nothing. I was instructed to lie down on the floor on my back, and that's what I did."
But despite his horrifying ordeal at the hands of merciless Hamas terrorists, the dad said it was their treatment of a female hostage that disturbs him the most.
Keith added: " I witnessed a woman being tortured. And when I say torture, I say it in a literal sense.
"This woman, they had tied her hands together at her wrists. They had tied her feet together at her ankles.
"They had covered her face with tape. They had put her down on her back on the floor.
"They called me to come into this room where the woman was lying, and there were three terrorists in the room.
"Two of them were taking turns beating her with a rod. And the third one was holding a metal rod with a sharp pointed end, which he put on her forehead.
6
6
6
"He was standing behind this woman, holding the rod and applying pressure to her forehead with the sharp end.
"It haunts me to this day."
Aviva, meanwhile, detailed the heartbreaking toll her time in captivity continues to take on her life - which she says she can't get back on track until the final hostages are freed.
The mum said: "One time, the Hamas terrorists took us underneath the ground and I was sure I was going to die.
"Keith looked at me and said 'I don't have any air'. We were left there to die.
"They didn't care about us. Everything was taken away from us.
"There wasn't a minute that I could say to myself okay, relax. I ahd the feeling they were going to kill me all the time or they were going to kill Keith.
"I was worried about him all the time.
"I was starving all the time. I had to beg for water. Still today, I need water next to me all the time.
"I cannot lock myself in a bathroom because I am scared after I was locked in rooms there and taken underground."
It comes as 50 hostages dragged into Gaza on October 7 remain trapped. Israel believes at least 27 are dead.
What happened on October 7?
ON October 7 2023, militants of Hamas and other Palestinian nationalist groups launched co-ordinated armed attacks in the Gaza Envelope of southern Israel.
The perpetrators had managed to bypass Israeli defences to para-glide across the border, in what became the first invasion of the territory since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
The horror coincided with the Jewish celebration of Simchat Torah, and initiated the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
A barrage of around 4,300 rockets were launched on Israel from the Gaza Strip in the early hours of October 7 before vehicles and powered paragliders crossed the border.
The Hamas fighters attacked military bases and massacred civilians in 21 communities, including Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Netiv Haasara, and Alumim.
The first civilian attack started at 6.29am at the Nova Music Festival site at Re'im, just three miles from Gaza.
More than 360 revellers were cut down as they desperately tried to flee.
Across October 7, an estimated 1,139 people were massacred and another 250 civilians and soldiers were taken hostage into Gaza.
Aviva and Keith, who are grieving the deaths of 64 people from their kibbutz killed during the atrocity, continue to battle for their freedom - travelling the world to campaign and share their testimonies.
"We haven't come back to life because we worry about the hostages that are still there," Aviva said.
"We know what they're going through.
"We come from a community that are peacemakers and we've always been like that.
"We know of so many hostages... treated like they're not human beings.
"And we are here as witnesses to tell the world that if we leave the situation to be like that and the hostages there, that means anybody in the world can do whatever they want to.
"They can rape. They can burn. They can starve. They can do whatever they want to.
"This war needs to stop and the world needs to stand for humanity.
"I can't go back to my life. All I do is think about all these hostages that are innocent, that just need to come home."
It comes as Donald Trump continues to push for a peace deal between Israel and Hamas - including the release of the hostages.
US Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler this week argued a deal to free the final captives is "closer than it's ever been".

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Israel's Operation Wrath of God: do targeted assassinations work?
'The massacre that happened in Israel on October 7, 2023, is sometimes referred to as Israel's 9/11,' Aviva Guttmann writes, 'but, arguably, Israel already had a watershed terrorist moment deeply ingrained in its national consciousness: the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972.' Neither Mossad nor Shin Bet, the domestic security agency, foresaw the Hamas attack or the killing of 11 Israeli Olympic team members. There are other similarities between the two terror attacks: they were both broadcast globally, the Munich massacre on television and the October 7 attack on social media; both sets of terrorists took hostages; and each attack provoked strong Israeli demands for revenge. The parallels with the Hamas massacre of October 7 are not perfect, but Guttmann's book Operation Wrath of God, about Israel's covert assassination campaign after the Munich massacre, is a timely and worthy contribution to intelligence history. That covert campaign — ten missions to kill Palestinians linked with terrorism — has great relevance for today's counterterrorism operations. For instance, is there such a thing as 'surgical justice'?


Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Brit mum who allegedly smuggled cannabis into Mauritius in son's suitcase held in hellhole prison
Natashia Artug was arrested in Mauritius after an estimated £1.6million worth of cannabis was reportedly found inside luggage. A British mum is being held in a notorious hellhole prison accused of attempting to smuggle cannabis into Mauritius inside her six-year-old son's suitcase, it is reported. It is said Natashia Artug faces waiting more than a year on remand in the women's' section of Beau Bassin Central Prison just outside the island capital Port Louis. This period is understood to be before the 35-year-old mother of two is even brought to trial. The jail, home to 135 women inmates, has been described as being filthy with prisoners often having to spend hours outside "under the scorching sun", reports the Mirror. Artug was arrested with six other Britons and her Romanian boyfriend after they allegedly tried to smuggle 161kg of cannabis worth £1.6million into Mauritius. However, her representatives from London-based non-profit Justice Abroad claim she had been coerced into travelling to the island nation by people who threatened her and her family. After the group's British Airways flight from Gatwick touched down at the island's Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport last month, it is said cannabis weighing 14kg was found wrapped in cellophane packages and stuffed inside Artug's six-year-old son's wheelie case. And so authorities in Mauritius are understood to therefore be treating Artug's case with utmost seriousness. The mum, though, is being held alongside four other British women, all arrested with her and all from Cambridgeshire. The defendant was reportedly initially held under guard with her son in the headquarters of the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit in Mauritius so they could be together. However, she is believed to have been transferred to the Beau Bassin Central Prison after her son's father reportedly flew over to collect him and took him back to the UK. Artug, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, is yet to comment publicly about her experience. Prison conditions in Mauritius were slammed in a 2014 report, which said they "did not always meet international standards" and drug abuse had been reported in jails across the island. More than half of the women at Beau Bassin Central Prison are believed to be foreign with the majority serving sentences or on remand for drug offences. Yet the Human Rights report by the US State Department highlighted a "lack of hygiene, sanitation, and basic medical care" as "problems" at the clink. In a further comment on the jail, it added: "Given the lack of administrative remedies, inmates' relatives sometimes turned to private radio stations to denounce hygiene conditions or other problems." The document, though, did not specify whether the issues related to the women's' section of the jail or the far larger mens' section. It described, however, record-keeping in prisons on the island as "adequate" with inmates able to have visitors, submit complaints and follow religious observance. In relation to the case, a Foreign Office spokesman has said: "We are supporting a British national detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.


Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Brit mum arrested in Mauritius with son, 6, is being held in hellhole prison
Natashia Artug, who lives in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was arrested in Mauritius after an estimated £1.6 million worth of cannabis was reportedly found inside luggage A British mum accused of trying to smuggle cannabis into Mauritius inside her six-year-old son's suitcase is being held there in a notorious hellhole prison, it is reported. It is said Natashia Artug faces waiting more than a year on remand in the womens' section of Beau Bassin Central Prison just outside the island capital Port Louis. This period is understood to be before Artug, 35, is even brought to trial. The jail, home to 135 women inmates, has been described as being filthy with prisoners often having to spend hours outside "under the scorching sun". Artug, who is a mother of two, was arrested with six other Britons and her Romanian boyfriend after they allegedly tried to smuggle 161kg of cannabis worth £1.6million into Mauritius. However, she had been coerced into travelling to the island nation by people who threatened her and her family, said London-based non-profit Justice Abroad, who is representing the woman. After the group's British Airways flight from Gatwick touched down at the island's Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport last month, it is said cannabis weighing 14kg was found wrapped in cellophane packages and stuffed inside Artug's six-year-old son's wheelie case. And so authorities in Mauritius are understood to therefore be treating Artug's case with utmost seriousness. The mum, though, is being held alongside four other British women, all arrested with her and all from Cambridgeshire. The defendant was reportedly initially held under guard with her son in the headquarters of the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit in Mauritius so they could be together. However, she is believed to have been transferred to the Beau Bassin Central Prison after her son's father reportedly flew over to collect him and took him back to the UK. Artug, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, is yet to comment publicly about her experience. Prison conditions in Mauritius were slammed in a 2014 report, which said they "did not always meet international standards" and drug abuse had been reported in jails across the island. More than half of the women at Beau Bassin Central Prison are believed to be foreign with the majority serving sentences or on remand for drug offences. Yet the Human Rights report by the US State Department highlighted a "lack of hygiene, sanitation, and basic medical care" as "problems" at the clink. In a further comment on the jail, it added: "Given the lack of administrative remedies, inmates' relatives sometimes turned to private radio stations to denounce hygiene conditions or other problems." The document, though, did not specify whether the issues related to the womens' section of the jail or the far larger mens' section. It described, however, record-keeping in prisons on the island as "adequate" with inmates able to have visitors, submit complaints and follow religious observance. In relation to the case, a Foreign Office spokesman has said: "We are supporting a British national detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities."