Sadness, sorrow, and gratitude…a mixture of heavy emotions describes how Chapel Hill native Keith Siegel and his wife, Aviva, are feeling exactly three years after Hamas militants kidnapped them and dozens of others, killing 1,200 people.
“I always feel that when there’s something really bad that you have to prepare yourself for it, you take your time,” Aviva told WRAL News in an interview. “It doesn’t happen only on the day. It happens like a couple of weeks before.”
Aviva was released by Hamas more than a month after she was kidnapped. She said she has just recently begun to feel free.
“I’ve just started to feel free lately, and feel like you know things are a little bit different, and it’s a trauma we’re carrying it, and it’s going to take time,” she said.
Keith was released on February 1, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a five-week ceasefire. He survived 484 days of torture, along with a lack of information, sanitation, food, and water.
“I have been thinking a lot about how grateful I am to be alive and to be back reunited with my family, and that’s amazing,” he told WRAL News. “But together with that, I also feel so so sorry and sad for all of the people that didn’t survive, and all of those that were injured physically, emotionally, and I think there’s so so many of those, including ourselves, that are dealing with trauma, and I guess will be dealing with trauma forward.”
Aviva described the torture they faced and the conditions they survived in during that time. She talked about how Hamas militants made Keith dig his own grave.
She documented what happened in detail and wrote a book called ‘Survived to Tell’ to share their truth.
“It’s really a victory that Keith is here, and that I’m here, and that we could share the truth,” Aviva said. “It’s going to give everybody…the strength to understand that we, as grown-ups, have to speak and and just be sure that the next generations will have a better life, and that nothing like that will ever ever happen to the next generations.”
As conflict persists in the Middle East, including in Israel, they are still clinging on to hope for peace.
“Just hoping and praying for peace all over the world in Israel and everywhere else, and so people will be able to live in peace and in security, and to have a good life,” Keith said. “Life is short. Life is precious, and the leaders of ours and all over the world, it’s their responsibility to prioritize stabilization and peace.”
Pain and trauma still persist for Keith and Aviva. They appreciate all the support from the Triangle.
“Just coming to realize so many caring people, so many people that support us not even knowing us, and just working and advocating for our release and showing care and support in many many ways… It’s very very moving, and it’s very very uplifting, and it brings me a lot of optimism,” Keith said. “Just thinking that things are good, things will be much better, and there are many many caring people that will be a part of that.”