‘I wanted to die’: Husband and wife kidnapped on October 7 reveal hell they endured in Gaza – from seeing girls ‘beaten to pieces’ and sexually assaulted to being starved and tortured
Aviva and Keith Siegel, an Israeli couple abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023, have spoken publicly about the brutal treatment they endured during their captivity in Gaza. Aviva, held for 51 days before her release in November 2023, described witnessing young female hostages beaten and sexually assaulted by their captors, while Keith, who was not freed until after 484 days, recounted being shot, having his ribs broken during the abduction, and struggling to breathe in the militants' underground tunnel network. Nearly three years on, the couple say they remain deeply traumatised, still haunted by intrusive memories from their ordeal.
The pair were seized from their home during the assault that killed around 1,200 people and saw roughly 250 taken hostage. During the kidnapping, gunmen forced them from their safe room, breaking Keith's ribs and tearing Aviva's knee cartilage before shooting Keith in the arm as they were bundled into a vehicle. In Gaza, Aviva was forced to wear a hijab and Keith a robe; both described the constant fear of death, including a harrowing episode in the tunnels when Keith struggled for oxygen. Aviva has since written a book, "The Main Thing is to Wake up to a New Morning", detailing her experience as a hostage.
- Freed Israeli hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel detail their Gaza captivity ordeal
- Aviva witnessed girls beaten and sexually assaulted by Hamas captors
- Keith held 484 days; couple still traumatised nearly three years on
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Aviva and Keith Siegel are an Israeli married couple who were taken hostage from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on 7 October 2023, during a large-scale attack by Hamas gunmen on communities in southern Israel. That assault killed roughly 1,200 people and saw around 250 others taken into Gaza as hostages, making the Siegels part of a much larger group whose fate became a defining feature of the ensuing war.
The couple were held separately and for very different lengths of time: Aviva was released after 51 days as part of an early hostage-and-prisoner exchange in November 2023, while Keith remained in captivity for 484 days before his eventual release. Their case has been closely followed because it illustrates both the initial violence of the abductions and the drawn-out, uncertain process by which hostages were freed over many months.
The Siegels are now speaking publicly about what they say they experienced and witnessed during captivity, adding personal testimony to the broader public record of the October 7 attacks and their aftermath, which remains a highly sensitive and contested subject in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.