U.S. citizen Keith Siegel was released from captivity on Saturday as part of a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, which was brokered with help from the outgoing Biden administration and President Donald Trump.
Siegel, looking gaunt, embraced his wife, who was released in a truce in November 2023. He was released along with two other hostages, including Yarden Bibas, the father of the Bibas family, whose other members are still hostages.
United Press International (which calls terrorists “militants” instead of what they actually are) reported:
Hamas militants [sic] on Saturday released three hostages, including American-Israeli dual national Keith Siegel, in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners.
Siegel was turned over in Gaza City about two hours after Israeli Yarden Bibas and Israeli-French Ofer Kalderon were released in the southern city of Khan Younis.
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Eighteen hostages have been released since the truce on Jan. 19. Israel has released many many times that number of prisoners.
Also as part of the cease-fire, the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened up for the for the first time in nine months. Israel agreed after Hamas released the last living female hostages in Gaza.
The hostages were seized during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. Seven American citizens were among around 250 taken hostage. Militants [sic] killed around 1,200 and the Hamas-run Health Ministry claimed more than 47,400 have been killed during the war.
The fate of Shiri Bibas and the Bibas children, Ariel and Kfir — the latter just a baby when abduced — is unknown. Yarden Bibas said that Hamas taunted him about their potential deaths, as he still held out hope for their survival.
There were seven Americans still hostage in Gaza. Siegel is one of three who were presumed to be alive.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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