Freed Israeli hostages Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel, Tal Shoham describe horrors of being held captive by Hamas
After more than 15 months in captivity, and while dealing with burying the bodies of his wife and two young children, freed Israeli Yarden Bibas made a public appeal.
He implored Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the fighting in Gaza, determined to see the return of the other hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023. Despite his heartfelt plea, the ceasefire with Hamas ended this month, with Israel resuming bombing in Gaza. Every bomb that falls jeopardizes the hostages still held in captivity, Bibas said. He spent most of his time in captivity in Gaza's tunnels and lived through bombings.
"You don't know when it's gonna happen. And when it happens, you're afraid for your life," he said. "The whole earth would move like an earthquake, but underground."
Yarden Bibas
Bibas, his wife Shiri and their two, red-headed sons — 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir — were among those taken hostage during the Oct. 7 Hamas-terrorist attack on Israel, which sparked the war. In all, some 1,200 civilians and soldiers were killed that day and 251 people were abducted.
In the months since, an estimated 50,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militant combatants. Most of those are women and children.
Bibas lived through much of the deadly bombing in Gaza before his release during a January ceasefire. During his time in captivity, he was forced to sit on camera after he was told by Hamas that his wife and sons were killed by an Israeli air raid. Israeli officials have since said that forensic evidence shows Bibas' children were killed by their captors.
"They were all murdered in cold blood, bare hands," Bibas said. "They [Hamas] used to tell me 'Oh, doesn't matter. You'll get a new wife. Get new kids. Better wife. Better kids.'"
Shortly after Bibas was freed in January, Hamas released the bodies of his wife and children as part of a ceasefire deal.
Bibas started advocating for the hostages still in Gaza almost immediately following his own release. He wrote a letter to Netanyahu pleading to stop the fighting. Bibas does not believe continued fighting will encourage Hamas to release the hostages.
Now Bibas is hoping to reach the ears of President Trump.
"I know he can help," Bibas said. "I'm here because of Trump. I'm here only because of him. I think he's the only one who can stop this war again."
Bibas said the president should convince Netanyahu and Hamas to agree to another ceasefire.
He worries about the safety of the hostages still in Gaza, including his best friend, David Cunio, and Cunio's brother, Ariel. Cunio was kidnapped with his wife Sharon and their kids, who were released during the first ceasefire in November 2023. Cunio and his brother are still being held hostage and are presumed to be alive.
"Probably the hardest thing: I have to move [on] with my life, and David is not with me," Bibas said. "I lost my wife and kids. Sharon must not lose her husband."
Keith and Aviva Siegel
Bibas is not the only freed hostage hoping for another ceasefire. He's joined by Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American who was also released in January. Siegel's wife, Aviva, was also kidnapped by Hamas and later freed.
The Siegels lived in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the border with Gaza, and were taken from their home. They were driven into Gaza and taken down into a tunnel.
"We were gasping for our breath," Keith Siegel said.
Aviva was with her husband for 51 days, until she was released during a brief ceasefire in 2023. They were held with several women and children, and said there was constant abuse.
"I witnessed a young woman who was being tortured by the terrorists. I mean literal, you know, torture, not just in the figurative sense," Keith Siegel said.
He said female hostages were sexually assaulted, with other captives made to watch.
Siegel said conditions worsened for him after his wife was released and that early ceasefire collapsed.
"The terrorists became very mean, and very cruel, and violent," he said.
The Israeli-American said he was beaten and starved. His captors would eat in front of him. He said once a month, he would get half a bucket of cold water to clean himself.
His spirit, he said, was broken.
"I felt that I was completely dependent on the terrorists, that my life relied on them, whether they were gonna give me food, bring me water, protect me from the mobs that would lynch me," he said. "I was left alone several times and I was very, very scared that maybe they won't come back and I'll be left there. And what do I do then?"
With the couple now back home, Aviva Siegel worries over two neighbors — 27-year-old twins Gali ans Zivi Berman — still languishing in captivity in Gaza.
"There needs to be a deal that will bring them back, and finish with this whole thing," she said.
Israelis still in captivity
An estimated 24 hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza, including best friends Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David. Hamas took them from the Nova Music Festival.
Recently released hostage Tal Shoham, 40, spent 471 days with them in captivity. Shoham recently met with the parents of Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David to tell them about their sons.
"It's important for us to know exactly what's going on with our children," parent Ilan Dalal said.
Shoham didn't hold back when he spoke with Gilboa-Dalal's parents.
"One moment he's, like, partying in the Nova, the second moment he's in the worst place in the world," Shoham told them of their son. "It took him, I think, five or six days just to stop crying, to start to realize that this is the reality now."
Shoham said they were mostly confined to a narrow tunnel, where they were beaten daily and made to share minute amounts of pita bread, rice and water.
"Sometimes the water tastes like blood, sometimes like iron. Sometimes it was so salty that you could not drink it, but you don't have anything else," Shoham said. "You don't need too much to stay alive."
But they were resourceful, coming up with odd ways to win favors. For instance, they discovered one of the guards liked back rubs.
"The exchange was that he will get a massage every day and he will bring us some more food. And different food," Shoham said.
Hamas also brought Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David in a van to watch fellow hostages be released. Hamas released a video of them begging for their freedom.
"And then they moved them back to the tunnels. So this can be devastating to them," Ilan Dalal said.
Galia David, mother of hostage Evyatar David, said she wants everyone to hear about what's happened to the hostages.
"Maybe someone will hear it and he will save our sons. I don't know," she said.
